Rookie 9 Mix Up
by DiscoC
Summary: Rookie 9 Mix Up: What if the rookie teams got mixed up and most had new senseis? Following Naruto and his team mainly but the others still play a big role some more than others.
1. Chapter 1: Team Selection

**Rookie 9 Mix up**

**Chapter 1: Team Selection**

8 Jonin were waiting in the Hokages office. One of course was still running late. A certain Kakashi Hatake, the famous Copy Ninja. He had a reputation for this, many of the fellow Jonin would joke that he would be late to his own funeral.

"I wonder if Kakashi is late to going to the bathroom?" Joked Asuma

"I bet he was a 10 month pregnancy to so he would start his life off late." Replied Genma.

The Hokage cracked a smirk at the jokes, but he was getting irritated at Kakashi. It had been 45 minutes now and he had a lot of paper work to do, along with informing the village council of the genin teams.

"Ok let's get this started shall we." Said the Hokage

"Kakashi is still not here yet though Hokage-sama" replied Kunugi Mokume

"What does it matter he'll just fail them as usual" retorted Anko quickly

"Kakashi will be assigned with who is left over. Now I trust you have all read the reports on this year's genin graduates. Let's start with you Kurenai."

Kurenai had taken a special interest in this year's genin so she spent the majority of yesterday watching them, studying who would make a good squad. The first to pop out to her was Sakura Haruno. The girl had the highest grades out of the kunoichi, and showed amazing chakra control. Kurenai being a genjutsu expert really wanted a team she could help in that department, but now she needed two male members. She continued looking over the candidates and selected Shino Aburame whose grades were in the upper half of every category except taijutsu. Now she needed a big hitter, one that could keep the bug user and genjutsu user safe. Her decision was between the last remaining member of the Uchia clan, the Inuzuka, the Uzumaki that had somehow taken the secret scroll last night and beaten a high chunin, and the Akimichi. She quickly ruled out the stuck up Uchia, she didn't need there to be any confrontation in the team. Thinking back to her scouting from a day ago she remembered seeing that both Inuzuka and Uzumaki didn't particularly get along with the others, Kiba purposely trying to irritate people ruled him out, and Naruto had possible the worst relationship with Sakura. That left Choji Akimichi.

A while had passed and now that only left two teams left to be selected, Asuma Sarutobi's and Kakashi Hatake. Asuma already knew he wanted Sasuke Uchia, the rookie of year by far had the highest grades, and he would pair him with Hinata Hyuga. Sure she was shy but she had the second highest grades out of the kunoichi, the only trouble being he would have to talk to the Hyuga clan leader to get permission to train her, but Asuma really didn't care. He was the type to take no shit from anyone. Not many did, knowing he was the son of the third Hokage and those that did realized quickly why he was one of the two surviving members of the Guardian Shinobi 12. His last member would be Kiba Inuzuka, another tiajustu powerhouse; he mainly didn't want the Nara and Uzumaki who had the two lowest scores out of this year's graduating class.

"Form my team I request Hinata Hyuga," suddenly a figure appeared in the window of the office with a gust of leaves blowing.

"I see you finally decided to show up Kakashi" said the Hokage without looking.

"Yea you see this old man needed help moving his furniture and I"

"I don't need your excuses" interrupted the Hokage. He had heard that one at least 20 times before.

"Well I see you have started the selection already, who is my team?"

"Asuma was just finishing his selection"

"Oh! So I'm not to late then."

Asuma cracked a smirk, "As I was saying I request Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Sasuke Uchiha."

Kakashi then scanned the remaining three 'I can't pass this team, they left me with an okay kinoichi, and the two lowest scoring genin for males.'

"Lord Hokage I request that I take the Uchiha, with my skills and the Sharingan don't you think I would be a wiser pick for him to develop, it's not like there is anyone else here with that much knowledge of it."

"Too bad Kakashi you were late he's all mine" replied quickly Asuma

"Asuma can I talk with you and the Hokage privately for a moment." said Kakashi in more of a demanding rather than a question statement.

The Hokage motioned for the other Jonin to be dismissed and told them they would report to the academy tomorrow at 11am sharp.

"Asuma there must be some kind of an agreement we can reach here on this" said Kakashi in a pleading voice.

Asuma thought to himself for a moment 'This might be my one chance to see the big mystery behind that mask.'

"Well there is one thing I've always wondered"

"No the mask is off limits"

"So is the Uchiha then, I might even be willing to throw in another member of my team for that mask and drinks on you tonight."

Kakashi sighed. "Ok but no pictures, and I get both Uchiha, and Inuzuka."

'TOTALLY WORTH!' thought Asuma

Now this little trade had the Hokages full attention, as he put on his glasses to be sure he got a good look.

"But just to clarify I have Sasuke Uchiha, Kiba Inuzuka, and the Yamanaka."

"Yes I've already stamped my approval of it" said the Hokage eagerly.

"Ok here it is" moaned Kakashi

Kakashi reached up to the top fold of his mask and pulled started to pull it down. Asuma and the Hokage both sweating not able to stand the excitement. Unknown to them that Kurenia Yuhi was outside of the window looking in as she wanted to see just how this debate between Kakashi and Asuma went down.

Once he finally pulled it down both Asuma and the Hokage where deadpan.

"It's another mask! Pretty cool huh!"

Kurenai looked on with amazement and blushed a little. She could see that it was just a genjutsu and quickly dispelled it from her vision. She couldn't wait to tell Asuma.

And all the other women of the village for that matter. 'Maybe I could go see Yakamo latter and see if she could go into my mind and paint a picture of it?'

"You're still paying for drinks tonight you tricky bastard"

"Alright see you at 8?"

"I'll just assume that means 9"

"Probably a safe guess, see ya"

The next day Naruto Uzumaki was the first in the class room. He was so happy that he finally became a ninja; he couldn't wait to show everyone. He couldn't wait to surprise everyone, they all thought he failed. The thought back yesterday it had been the best and worst day of his life.

_The class had just got out after the exam, he failed for the third year in a row now and he sat there on the swing alone looking at everyone and their parents. He was on the verge of tears, he had no family, not really any friend, he would get to play ninja from time to time with Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba, but they were really the only ones who ever talked to him. He sat there looking down on the ground; he heard some of the girls talking about how they knew he would never pass. He could tell two of the voices were Ino Yamanaka, and Sakura Haruno. _

_That is when the damn of tears he held back for so long finally busted a leak as a streak began to flow down his face. He could handle being called annoying just fine he knew that he was a little but he was also funny the majority of the time in the process. But too hear Ino and especially Sakura say that really hurt. _

_Naruto didn't know this at the time but there were two others there that didn't have parents come either. One Sasuke, he had no one. Everyone he loved was dead. He just quietly walked away from the academy angered thinking he was one step closer to being powerful enough to avenge his family. He ignored the girls' attempts to talk to him and just walked home to the empty Uchiha compound._

_The other was Hinata Hyuga. She was sad for two reasons, one her father didn't come. He said he was busy with discussions with the Elders in the clan and couldn't make it. The other being that her crush Naruto had failed. She cared about everyone and their feelings but she liked Naruto especially. She saw Naruto over there alone and then it really hit her, this was probably going to be the last time she saw him. She never had the courage to tell him how she really felt or even talk to him for that matter. _

_Well she wasn't going to be scared any more. She decided she was going to go over and finally talk to him. As she walked over her heart started beating faster. She was starting to get cold feet; no way could she do this. She stopped 15 feet from him and noticed something. She saw the one tear going down his face. This wrenched at her heart. She thought to herself 'there must be something I can do. I mean Naruto always put me in a good mood with his class jokes.'_

"_n Naruto?" she squeezed out_

_Naruto quickly whipping his face looked around and saw Hinata standing there. She had hidden her headband in her jacket pocket so Naruto wouldn't notice and be even more saddened._

"_Oh, Hey Hinata!" Naruto said quickly putting on a fake smile._

_Hinata blushed "I-I just w-wanted uhh was w-wondering what y-you were doing over here?" Hinata mentally kicked herself for that. _

"_I was just sitting here… I didn't pass again." The smile now gone but once he realized this he quickly threw another smaller one back out to replace it. "But there's always next year right." He began to look back at the ground, still holding that fake smirk._

_Hinata could tell he was faking it. "t-that's right. And I'm sure one day you'll be a great ninja." Hinata bringing a hand up to her mouth quickly. Wasn't sure what she was more shocked by; that she had said that to him or that she said it without stuttering._

_Naruto looked up, shocked at what he just heard. He had never heard Hinata say more that the casual hi before. He looked at her, he blushed a little. "Thanks Hinata, that means a lot to me." He then got up and hugged her. Hinata turning a color of red she never thought was possible. Then she heard something, something in her head. '__**Alright! He hugged you! Step one is down!**__' _

_She had never heard that voice before but she remembered Ino saying something about using her family's jutsu to go into Sakura's mind and ran into another personality. She didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Then Naruto thought to himself for a second 'no one has ever said that to me before' He then proceeded to give Hinata his classic big smile and scratch behind his head._

Back to the present more of the now genin started walking in. Choji and Shikimaru walked in and quickly noticed Naruto, surprised to see him here.

"Naruto what are you doing here this is only for people that passed the exam remember."

Naruto shot him a grin. "I did pass see!" he exclaimed

Sasuke looked over not saying anything just snorted to show his not impressed.

As the class started to fill up Choji and Shikimaru sat in the back middle eating chips together, Kiba and Akamaru sat front and center anxiously awaiting "their" jonin assignment, Shino sat alone in the front far to the side, Hinata sat in the far back left corner.

She nearly had a heart attack when she saw Naruto was there and had somehow passed the test.

Sasuke and Naruto sat in the middle of the class with one seat open in between them and on seat open next to either Hinata or Shino the two quiet ones. Sakura and Ino then came storming in together and ran to the spot open by Sasuke. As they started arguing Naruto got up and started to walk away.

"You both can have it! Just shut up!" He stormed off muttering something that the two couldn't make out. Sakura and Ino were both shocked by this but proceeded to sit down next to Sasuke. 'I never thought I wished Naruto would sit by me.' He thought to himself as the two girls tried desperately to get his attention. Naruto began to look around the room for an open seat he first saw one by Shino. He looked over creeped out and prayed he could find another one.

Hinata saw this, 'this is my chance! I never got to sit next to Naruto in class.'

"t-there's a s-seat open over h-hear." She mumbled, but no one could hear. '**Come One! You can do better than that! CHAAA!**'. There was that voice again.

"t-There's" she said quietly but shook her head. "There's a seat over hear Naruto-kun!" she yelled and got about half the rooms attention. Hinata discovered a new shade of red that moment when she realized just how loud she was.

Naruto looked up, a smile quickly coming to his face as he started walking over to where Hinata sat. He sat down still smiling at her. 'Oh god he sat down next me and he's smiling right at me! What do I do quick think!'

"Hi n-Naruto I uh…"

"Thanks for letting me sit by you I really didn't want to sit next to Shino…" As he made a creeped out face again thinking of the bugs Shino caries around with him.

"And look I did end up passing!" he tilted his headband at her

"i-Im happy you passed Naruto-kun" 'did I really just call him Kun!? Maybe he didn't notice.'

"Thanks Hinata-Chan! uhhh Hinata-Chan are you ok?"

Iruka walked in moments later looking at the class, he saw Shikimaru, and Hinata sleeping with Naruto nervously trying wake her up.

"Alright I'm going to announce the new genin teams" Iruka went down the list then came team 7

"Kiba Inuzuka, Ino Yamanaka" Ino making a deadpan face at this, while Sakura stuck her tongue out at her 'Ino will be smelling dog breath for a while'

"and Sasuke Uchiha" Ino was now the one rubbing it in Sakura's depressed face.

"Man I'm glad I'm not on a team with either of them Hinata-Chan" Hinata just pushed her fingers afraid she might say something wrong to Naruto.

"I sure hope were on a team together." Naruto said smiling at Hinata who was at a loss of words just starring at Naruto. 'He just said he wanted to be on a team with me.' '**OF COURSE HE DID! CHA WERE GONNA SPEND EVERYDAY WITH HIM!'**

"i-i-I do t-to n-Naruto-kun" '**we seriously need to work on your speaking skills' **said the alter ego in a calm disappointed voice, shaking her head. Hinata knew this, she had a problem being shy and stuttering but especially when Naruto or her father where around.

"Yea, I'd much rather have you than Ino or Saaakura" He said Sakura in an annoyed tone. He was still mad at what he heard the two say yesterday.

"Hey Hinata-Chan you can't keep falling asleep our names are gonna get called any minute!"

"Next up team 8. Sakura Haruno, Shino Aburame, and Choji Akimichi."

'Great Bug boy and Fatty… can my life get any worse' Sakura thought to herself. **'Cha! AND THAT INO PIG STOLE OUR SASUKE!' **

Hinata finally woke up again in time to hear her name.

"And Finally Team 10, Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuga, and Shikimaru Nara"

For Naruto this couldn't be better his first real friend was on his team and Shikimaru was too lazy to care about. He sat their grinning at the thought. Sakura noticed and was confused. 'What's with him first he freaks out at me and Ino, then he gets really excited even thou he's not on my team. I mean I know he's always had a crush on me. Maybe he just needs a little rope to grab onto.'

Hinata had now decided the last 24 hours where the best of her life.

"Your Jonin Instructors will be coming in to collect you and tell you where to meet them."

A little later Kurenai walked in and called her team out, and one by one the teams were leaving until there were six left, team 7 and team 10s jonin hadn't shown up yet and it had been 30 minutes.

Meanwhile,

Asuma was rushing through the halls of the academy 'Damn I'm late! Dad is gonna kill me! I and Kakashi stayed out way to late last night'. He finally stumbled upon the room. 'Ok gotta look cool in front of the team.' Before he opened the door he looked up. 'Did they really think that was gonna work? Only a fool would fall for that.' He walked in catching the eraser that fell.

"Ok who's the funny guy?" He asked sternly with the cigarette in his mouth.

"That'd be me!" Naruto raised his hand with a smile from ear to ear.

"I was afraid of that, Ok team 10 come with me." Asuma started out the door with his three new genin right behind.

"So I figured we would go get something to eat while we"

"Let's go to Ichiraku Ramen!" replied Naruto Excitingly

"No Ichiraku is like five blocks away can't we go somewhere closer" moaned Shikimaru

"Well who asked you!"

"It's a team decision and last I knew Asuma was team leader."

"Hey guy chill out, I was thinking we would go to this barbeque pit not far from here" interrupted Asuma. The three genin agreed, Naruto not happily.

Once getting to the restaurant, Naruto and Shikimaru sat down first; this was the part Asuma always loved about new teams. He would pick a booth then send the two boys over first and make a reason for the girl to stay. Then he would send the girl over to see who she would sit by. He remembered his sensei doing this to him when he first became a genin, and how nervous he was when Kurenia sat next to him.

When he made his way over he was surprised to see the Hyuga heiress sitting with the blond. From the reports it said he had no friends in the academy except for his sensei.

After a waitress came and took their orders Asuma finally broke the silence.

"So why don't you guys tell me a little about yourselves." He looked at the small Hyuga girl, but she just looked down and shook her head blushing.

"OK… we'll come back to you later." 'Wow I knew she had a problem with being shy but she hasn't even spoken yet.'

"How bout you uhh, Naruto right?"

"Uhhh… what do you want me to say?" Naruto looked at him confused

"Just stuff you like and about yourself"

"Could you give me an example about yourself?"

"How is everything such a drag with you Naruto?" Said Shikimaru

"Yea well no one asked you!" retorted Naruto angrily

"Hey guys it's no problem, really," Interrupted Asuma trying to play peace maker again. "I'm Asuma Sarutobi, I'm a Jonin hear in the leaf, for a while I was part of the Guardian Shinobi 12, I like cigarettes, I don't like it when my student complain about it, for hobbies I play shogi, and my dream is for you three to accomplish your dreams and carry on the Will of Fire." He then nodded to Shikimaru. The three were all impressed and starting to like this guy. Naruto because he was part of the Guardian Shinobi 12 and that sounded cool to him, Shikimaru, because he found a new person to play shogi with besides his dad, and Hinata because he said he would help them accomplish their dreams, which was hers to be stronger and she wanted to see Naruto become Hokage.

Shikimaru went first "I'm Shikimaru Nara, I'm part of the Nara clan, I like to watch clouds and play shogi, I don't like doing anything else really, and my dream become a chunin, settle down with a girl, not too pretty, not too ugly, have two kids, first a girl, then a boy, and retire when my daughter gets married and my son becomes independent. Then just stare at the clouds though my retirement then die before my wife. Yup that's the dream."

Everyone looked at him with deadpan eyes not believing how boring of a life he thought up.

"Ok. Well sounds exciting… how bout you next" Asuma said turning his attention to Hinata.

"i-Im Hinata Hyuga and I'm the heiress to t-the Hyuga Main Family." Hinata gulped afraid she would say something wrong. "I like someone."sneaking a peek at Naruto. Asuma caught this and chuckled to himself a little. "i-I don't like it when people are mean to others for no reason, h-hobbies i-I like to fix my g-garden." **'I SWEAR IF YOU STUDDER ONE MORE TIME INFRONT OF NARUTO-KUN I WILL COME OUT OF HERE AND BEAT YOU MY SELF!' **Hinata took a second to look around quick, Shikimaru was half asleep. 'Ok I don't have to worry about him, but' she saw Asuma staring right at her not even blinking, 'oh no he probably can't stand me and will send me back to the academy for sure!' Then something nudged her, she looked and saw Naruto smiling.

"Go on Hinata-Chan" he said supportively.

Hinata smiled then continued, "and my dream is to be strong as my father and free my clan of the caged bird seal" she finished strongly and was proud of it.

Asuma noticed the change in once the blond nudged her 'hmmm, Naruto might fit better than I thought; he seems to inspire the girl. And not have a clue about how others feel, especially girls. I may have to have a talk with him and Shikimaru'

Naruto was the last one up now "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, my dream is to one day be Hokage, my hobbies are pulling pranks and eating ramen, I don't like how long it takes to make ramen and stuck up pricks who think their better than everyone, and finally I like ramen!"

'This kid doesn't get out much does he?' Asuma gave look of deadpan at the confusing blond. 'ramen and hokage, he's a simple one'

"Oh and I also like my best friend Hinata-Chan!" Naruto added on.

'Maybe the kid isn't hopeless he probably just made her day right there' Asuma thought to himself.

Hinata looked at him with confusion and joy in her eyes. 'He. Likes. Me? No one has said that since my mother passed away.' Hinata looking into Naruto's eyes tried to say something. "i-i-i-I l-l-l-iiiiii-"Hinata proceeded to faint again.

"She's been doing this all day, I think she didn't get much sleep last night." Said Naruto trying to help Hinata wake up again fanning her with a napkin.

"Man what a drag is this going to be an everyday thing with you two?" moaned Shikimaru.

Naruto looked up confused at the statement. 'Nope he is hopeless.' Asuma thought quickly.

Dinner was now over, Hinata finally awaking, Asuma felt a little bad since she didn't get anything to eat and the others offered to wait but she didn't want to keep them waiting and be a burden.

Asuma started talking once they left the restaurant "Well I hate to bum you guys out but I got to break the bad news to you." The three looked up at him confused. "You three are not technically genin yet, what you took yesterday was a pretest, now for the real one. Meet me at training ground 19 tomorrow at 6am. Oh and I wouldn't recommend eating anything if you don't want to throw up." With that he smiled and walked away.

"Awe 6am. What a drag." Moaned Shikimaru.

"Hey I bet it will be fun. And there in no way we won't pass!" 'I can't go back to the academy again. I just can't'

Hinata look up at Naruto now with a new confidence. "Your right, I believe that if we work together we can do this." Said Hinata proudly 'Hey, I didn't stutter again! That's like three times in one day!' she thought happily.

"Well it's about that time I'll catch you guys later, I better get going home soon, my dad wants me to go help him with the farm out back." Said Shikimaru referring to the herd of deer behind the Nara clan estate.

"Yes I better s-start going home now too, m-my father might s-start to worry" Said Hinata looking to the ground knowing that he wouldn't care. 'All he cares is that I do my training tonight but that won't be until 7. And it's only 4pm.'

'4pm curfew? She must be really tired. I hope she makes it home safe, she's already passed out 3 times today.' Thought Naruto

"Hinata-Chan I can walk you home, I don't have anything else to do."

'**JACKPOT!**' "Oh I d-don't want to bother you."

'**DON'T YOU RUIN THIS FOR US!'**

"Na it's no problem really and I want to make sure you get home safe."

"Ok if y-you insist" she said smiling.

While walking together the two talked about what they thought the test would be on the next day, what they thought about Asuma Sensei and other things. Hinata was so happy to find that the more she talked to Naruto the easier it got. Until they walked through a busier part of town and Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand to make sure she didn't get lost. But that did result in her legs giving out and her fainting. Again… Naruto proceeded to carry her in his arms, a couple people gave him strange looks but he just ignored them and was glad he did decide to walk Hinata home since she did "fall asleep" again.

As they continued Sakura noticed them. She tried waving but Naruto didn't notice, Sakura thought that he was ignoring her. She was actually a little mad to seen Hinata in his arms and she could see the blush on Hinata's face. 'Why am I angry? It's just Naruto.' She would keep thinking that for the remainder of the night.

Naruto and Hinata were now only a block away from the Hyuga compound and Naruto figured this was as far as he should go. Some of the more angry people with him were Hyugas and he never knew why until last night. 'That damn 9 tails has made my life awful, but I got to remember that people can change like Iruka it just might take them longer'

Hinata finally woke up as they were still walking but she just pretended to sleep. She was too nervous to move and she liked being in Naruto's arms. Also that little threat from her alter ego didn't hurt.

When Naruto set Hinata down she "finally woke up" as they were saying their goodbyes Hinata noticed that Naruto was taller than her. 'When did that happen? Last year I could have sworn we were the same height.' He was at least as tall as Kiba now; he had finally gone through that growth spurt he always told people would come.

Now confident Naruto headed home, he would need a lot of sleep to be on his A game tomorrow. And He would Need It.

**End**

A/N: well how did you guys like it? For Hinata's little inner voice I was thinking of giving her a name but couldn't think of a good one so I'm open to suggestion and any feedback you guys have on how to improve my writing and the story.


	2. A New Bells Test

Chapter 2: A New Bell Test

**Trainground 10**

It was 5:50 AM as Naruto was arriving to the training area. The sun was finally starting to appear over the small lake that was on the edge of the training ground. Trees surrounded the remainder of the clearing. Naruto made sure to get as much sleep as possible so he would be at his best for the real test that would officially make him a genin and one step closer to his goal of becoming Hokage. Naruto looked around and saw that Hinata and Shikimaru were already waiting, Shikimaru already sleeping, and Hinata nervously trying not to look Naruto in the eyes.

"Hey Hinata, Shikimaru," said Naruto as he approached them under a tree. Shikimaru responded with a murmur that the other two couldn't make out as he rolled onto his side facing away from them. This noticeably irritated Naruto as he sighed 'why did I have to get put on a team with the laziest kid in class? How am I supposed to push myself with someone like him?'

The three sat there mostly quietly waiting for their sensei to arrive. He was now 15 minutes late.

**Asuma**

Asuma was staring at a shogi board with pieces spread around the board; he liked to strategize battle scenarios before every confrontation. He first had to pick what piece he would be, figuring he probably had the most chakra, and physical skills he figured the queen would best represent him in this situation. But now he had to pick the others. He figured Hinata would be the rooke, Hyuga didn't hide what they would do, they were taijutsu based and would come head on at their opponent. Shikimaru he knew was lazy from their meeting the day before but he also knew to never underestimate a Nara. His sensei when he was a genin was none other than Shikimaru's father Shikaku Nara, who was possibly the smartest man he ever met. If he was anything like Shikaku he would be able to strategize on a high level. This reminded him of the knight, the piece could hop over other pieces and place it self in a position that put the user at no danger while still posing a great threat to the opponent. Now he had the trouble with Naruto. Little was known about the young ninja except he could produce shadow clones. He looked at the bishop a piece that could make sneak attacks and be used for blind siding an enemy that didn't pay attention to his surroundings. But the kid seemed to be lost yesterday and a little too eager to be the kind of person that would wait around and let his teammates do all the work. No the kid seemed more like a pawn, an insult to many. Asuma scratched his head irritated at what to place the young ninja as when he suddenly looked up at the clock. "Shit, this took longer than I thought better hurry up before they start thinking I'm Kakashi."

**Training Ground**

It was now a half hour past 6 when Asuma finally arrived. "I'm glad you all seem to have shown up, sorry bout being late, breakfast took longer to cook than I expected." Asuma said with a smirk and a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

"What! You told us not to have breakfast!" Exclaimed Naruto in a furious tone

"Yes, that was to motivate you to get this test done with faster. As much as I would love to spend all day with you kids I got better stuff to do."

"Like what!"

"Asuma stuff"

The three looked at their sensei with evil glares. All figuring he just wanted to mess with them.

"Ok, the test is a little complicated and I want to only explain this once so pay attention." Asuma started in a more serious tone of voice. "Each of you take one of these bells." As Asuma handed each of them a bell. The three looked at them with a small about of wonder. "I have two bells here and will place them on my waist, to pass the test by noon you must have two bells in you possession. If you don't you will be going back to the academy."

"But if there are only five bells how are we all supposed to pass?" asked Shikimaru

"That's the point." Asuma replied with an evil grin. "With only enough bells for two of you to accomplish your mission, one of you will fail." The three all looked at him with shocked expressions. "But if you do manage to get my two bells the test is not over. You may turn against each other and try to snach one of your teammates bells. This would help you in your own agenda but will almost guarantee that you pass." The three gave each other a small look.

"Now begin!" Asuma exclaimed as he jumped back a few yards and the three all hid in the surrounding. 'Well at least they all hid well, maybe they will pass.'

Naruto was the first to launch an attack sending out shadow clones from every direction. Asuma outmatched the hoard of clones thou quickly dispelling them all with ease. Hinata was the next to attack, going into her families classic Gentle Fist Technique. Asuma was avoiding the strikes from the young Hyuga knowing what the consequences would be if he were to allow even one of those to hit him.

But then he was caught off guard as Naruto reached for one of the bells coming from behind. Asuma quickly grabbed the Hyuga by the wrist and hurled her right into the blond sending both of them flying into a bush along the outer side of the field.

"How is he this strong" asked Hinata as she turned toward Naruto

"And quick" replied Naruto.

Meanwhile Shikimaru waited on a branch deep within the woods thinking. 'Why did he give us this test? Why would he give us a test where it was a free for all? I can understand that he wants us to work together if we want any chance of getting one of his but then why have us turn against one another?' Shikimaru kept waiting on the branch figuring he would let the other two wear down the more experience jonin, he knew of Naruto's incredible stamina and figured the two of them could team up later and get two of the bells.

Hinata and Naruto stayed in the brush and had come to an agreement to work together to try and capture the two bells that were on Asuma.

The two continued to fight Asuma for a couple hours then to no success. Eventually the two went back into hiding. It was now getting late and the trio was running out of time, they had to do something and fast.

'They've been hiding for a while now. Wonder what they got up their sleeve?' Asuma thought to himself as he reached to grab another cigarette.

"Now, once he goes to light it is our chance!" Naruto whispered to Hinata. Shikimaru saw the opening as well, he quickly moved to a closer position.

Five Narutos charged out after the jonin once the flame lit on his lighter. Asuma turned to them, quickly making short work out of them. But one of the clones was fighting differently from the rest. 'When did this kid learn Gentle Fist?' The clone had caught Asuma off guard enough to hit a chakra point in the jonins arm then reached for the bells. Asuma felt the pain in his upper arm. He was quick enough to jump back and avoid losing one of his bells, then a shadow was quickly stretching out from the brush at him, he had to move fast to avoid getting captured. 'I can't let this be too easy for them' the two Narutos left continued after him not letting up for even a second. Asuma then threw 4 suriken at the two. One pulled out a kunai and deflected three of them but the last was heading right for the Gentle Fist using one as it hit the clone a poof of smoke appeared and a log replaced the Naruto. The clone appeared behind a few yards next to the original and transformed into Hinata.

"Very clever you three almost had me with that." Asuma complimented his opponents.

Suddenly Hinata turned into another poof of smoke and transformed into Shikimaru. "What the!" Asuma muttered to himself. Hinata then appeared behind Asuma and immediately struck another point in his leg. Asuma fell to one knee and was able to throw the girl at the two boys in front of him, but not before she had grabbed one of the bells from his waist. The throw had made Hinata lose grip on the bell thou as both hurled thou the air separately.

Shikimaru looked on as he saw Naruto Immediately going to catch their teammate, he then grabbed the bell. Naruto and Hinata looked on in some accomplishment, Hinata unharmed in Narutos arms after catching her.

Suddenly then a little arm went off on Asuma's watch.

"Well looks like times up. And from what I can see only Shikimaru has two bells." Asuma said him a plain tone. 'They had a great strategy. If only they had a little longer maybe they would have beaten me'

Naruto looked down at the discouraged Hinata. A frown came to his face seeing how sad she was there. He couldn't stand it as he stood up.

"No Hinata has two bells to." Naruto stated to everyone's surprise. The blond then reached in to his pocket and tossed his bell to Hinata.

Hinata looked at the bell quickly then up to Naruto with eyes of disbelief at what had just happened.

"N-Naruto w-why?" Hinata asked still shocked

"Because, we were both gonna fail. There isn't any reason we should both fail. And anyways it was Shikimarus Idea that got us the bell and your Gentle Fist that slowed Asuma sensei down. All I did was make clones and charge out."

"Naruto you do know this means that you'll go back to the academy right." Stated Shikimaru in disbelief.

"I know, but you and Hinata deserve it. And nothing will stop me from accomplishing my dream of becoming Hokage. This just means it will take one more year." Naruto said giving his a look of confidence and determination.

"No!" yelled Hinata as the group looked at her with shock.

"I-I-I can't accept this. I c-can't be responsible f-for you not passing" Hinata now standing up looking at Naruto with that same look of determination He had always inspired her with. Hinata's arm then extended holding out the two bells in front of Naruto.

Naruto just looked confused as he stared at the bells. His focus then moved up to Hinata as he looked into her eyes. He had never seen her with this look of determination. He had never really looked at her eyes before. He noticed how big they were with a tint of lavender to them, which made them pretty. Most did not like the Hyuga eyes, as most were just plain white and always looks of hatred, at least they Hyuga eyes that looked down on him from time to time.

Hinata then noticed Naruto staring into her eyes. 'Oh god he's looking right at me!' She had hoped for a moment like this for so long where he would notice her and stare at her. But now it was too much as she quickly blushed and looked down to the ground crossing her legs, still holding the bells out.

"Screw it. Here" Shikimaru said as he tossed his bells to Naruto who caught them.

"But" Naruto started

"You and Hinata did all the work, I just sat back and watched, and this whole ninja thing is a drag anyway. I'm better off just sleeping in the academy like the good ole days." Shikimaru interrupted and started walking off.

Naruto and Hinata both looked at Shikimaru as he started walking away still confused at what had happened.

"Well I've seen all I needed. Shikimaru Nara, Hinata Hyuga, Naruto Uzumaki. I can proudly say that you have all passed!"

"Wait what!" Naruto said excited

"The test was not to get the bells it was to see if you had the Will of Fire in you." Replied Asuma proudly.

"The Will of Fire?" The three genin said in unison looking bewildered at the tall man.

"The Will of Fire means that the entire village is like a large family unit and every Konoha shinobi with the Will of Fire loves, believes, cherishes, and fights to protect the village, as previous generations had done before them. To be a shinobi of the leaf village you must be willing to put your friends, your family and loved ones, and everyone else in the village before yourself. If any of you had turned on one another in this test like many have before I would have immediately failed you. Anyone who would turn against someone of the leaf just to save their skin has no right to call themselves a shinobi of the leaf. And as long as I am still here I will make sure that the Will of Fire never dies. As my students I will pass on my Will of Fire to you three in the hopes that you too will never let the flame extinguish." Asuma said in a proud confident voice looking at the three he would now call his students.

The three stood there in amazement at what they had just heard.

"Yaaaaahoooooo!" yelled Naruto with a fist in the air "We did it!"

Relief fell onto Hinata as she let out a sigh of relief. Shikimaru then threw his head back wincing. "Awe I was looking forward to some more R and R time now I gotta do all this training and stuff, man this is gonna be such a drag." Shikimaru said in an annoyed voice.

Naruto was still running in circles around the clearing yelling how he passed. Asuma looked at this 'You Naruto are definitely the pawn. You always looked out for your friends. While you might not be powerful now one day you will reach the other end of the board and become the Queen. The most powerful piece that protects the king and all the other pieces." He looked at his genin proudly.

Hinata looked at the ground with a small grin on her face. 'I did it. I'm now a shinobi' '**Hell Yea We Did It!**'

Suddenly Hinata felt something grab her from the side around her body and arms and picked her up in to the air.

"Hinata-Chan we did it!" Naruto said holding her in the air with a giant grin on his face.

'Oh god Naruto is hugging me!' A bright red blush covered her entire face as she promptly began to faint.

"Hinata-Chan?"

"Did she really faint again?" asked Shikimaru in an annoyed voice

"Did I squeeze her to tight?!, is she exhausted?" Naruto asked worriedly trying to cool Hinata off fanning her with a cloth again.

Asuma looked at the two with a small grin 'I'm going to have to beat some sense into him about girls later. And while I'm at it I may as well help her get some confidence.'

Shikimaru then walked over to Asuma "Hey sensei shouldn't we tell him that she likes him."

"No, love works best when the two come to the realization on their own."

"But Naruto is such a moron he'll never see"

"Well I guess we could draw him a map and give him some directions." 'Lord know how lost this kid is'

"Ugh, this is gonna be such a drag." Moaned Shikimaru

"Shikimaru can you make sure Hinata gets home ok, I want to talk to Naruto about some things, maybe set him in the right path, and maybe you could talk some confidence into Hinata." Whispered Asuma

"Fine but this is still gonna be a drag"

**Asuma & Naruto**

"Asuma sensei what are we doing in the market section of town" Naruto asked in a curious tone.

"Well what do you think we're doing? We're going shopping."

"Shopping for what"

"A new outfit for you"

"Why! I like my outfit!"

"I'm sure you do but to be honest that think looks awful"

"Who asked you!"

"I'm just saying, that outfit of yours sticks out like a sore thumb and isn't going to get you anywhere with the ladies…. You do like ladies right?"

"Of course I like girls!"

"Oh yea! Who do you like then?"

Naruto didn't know who he liked, he had liked Sakura ever since he could remember but after hearing the things Sakura and Ino said about him he still hadn't forgiven her. He looked a little down at the question and mumbled

"What was that?" Asuma asked trying to get the boy to speak up

"I said I don't know" Naruto retorted frustrated at the thought of the mean thing Sakura and Ino said.

"Well stick with me kid and you'll be beating the girls back with a stick" Asuma assured him "but first we need to get you into some better cloths for combat and better looking"

"But sensei I ugh… never mind." Naruto trailed off

Asuma looked confused at this, why was the kid so against getting new cloths. "Hey, how much money you got on you kid, I know my dad drops a small allowance off at your place every month."

"What? How did, your dad is the Old Man Hokage!?" Naruto bewildered by this

"Ha! Old man, He would kill me if I ever called him that. And yes I am his son." Replied Asuma with a large grin on his face at the nickname Naruto had given his father.

"Oh man, what's it like have the Hokage for a dad?" Naruto asked eagerly

'Man if this kid only knew who his dad was' "It's got its ups and downs. As a kid I hated it, he was always too busy for me or my brother and that led to us being out of touch for a long time but it was a good home and he did teach me how to be the person I am today." Asuma replied thinking of how many years him and his father refused to talk to one another.

Naruto and Asuma continued talking and walking, Asuma told him stories of things his father told him about the first and second Hokage, the three sannin, and the White Fang of the leaf. Naruto got a little mad when he heard how the White Fang had been treated for failing a mission to save his teammates. Once the two began shopping Asuma quickly noticed why Naruto didn't want to do the shopping. The kid was getting evil glares everywhere they went. This irritated Asuma who was getting fed up with the prices people were trying to charge the boy.

"Hey sensei what do you think about this one?" It was a black slim fitting shirt with two orange streaks that went down the sides. The shirt would compress against his body so people wouldn't be able to grab onto his lose clothing and toss him around like he did earlier with him and Hinata maybe a few too many times. It also had a pair of black sweat pants that went with the shirt.

"I think we finally found the winner, I'll go look for the clerk." Asuma said with a smile. Asuma walked up to the counter to talk to the sales men who quickly started at Asuma. "What are you doing with that thing in here" the shop keeper asked accusingly in a tone that set Asuma off.

"That thing is my new student and a paying customer." Asuma said clenching his fist with hidden anger behind every word, now glaring at the shop keeper. The shop keep didn't pick up on the anger thou and continued on to try and say a ridiculous price for the items.

"That's a little much don't you think." Asuma still holding back his furry

"I don't have to serve who I don't want to" retorted the shop keep

"Listen I'm sure we can come to an agreement here where everyone leaves happy and with all our teeth." Asuma said making no attempt to hide his meaning this time.

That settled that and now Asuma and Naruto were walking again down the streets of Konha with Naruto's new outfit in a bag by Naruto's side. The two were just walking a couple blocks when Naruto finally broke the silence. "Hey uhh sensei you wanna go get something to eat?" It was getting around the time for dinner and Asuma guessed the kid didn't have anyone to hang out with at home or friends to hang out with so he agreed to go eat with the kid.

Naruto led the way telling Asuma since he picked the barbeque pit yesterday it was his turn so they went to Ichiraku's. Naruto loved the place, it had good ramen and the owner and his daughter were nice to the boy. As they were brought their food Asuma noticed that the man had scars all over his hands and lower arms curious he asked. "Hey how exactly did you get all those scars guy?"

The man turned to him with a smile "Oh these, I ust to be a shinobi here in the leaf many years back" Naruto was stunned by this. He had been coming here all these years and not once did the old man ever say he was a former shinobi. Just as Asuma and Naruto were about to leave Naruto said his goodbye and that's when Asuma heard something that caught his attention fast. "Bye Ayame, see you later Teuchi" said Naruto leaving.

"I'll see you tomorrow Naruto there's something I wanna check up on" Said Asuma. Naruto then walked home, Once Naruto was out of view Asuma set his sights on Teuchi.

"I was wondering why this was the only place that was nice to the boy" Asuma stated looking right at Teuchi. "So does he know?"

"No, I haven't told him anything" responded Teuchi who was busy cleaning up the shop.

"Good, I don't think he's ready for that yet" replied Asuma in a serious tone

"It's just that every time I see the kid he reminds me so much of Minato." Teuchi now having a hint of sorrow in his words. "He needs someone or somewhere he can feel safe and at home with. I take it you're the boy's sensei now." Asuma nodded confirming Teuchi's thoughts.

"Then you should know his God-Father is going to be back in a couple months. He will be glad to see that you're the boy's sensei."

"Seems like a crappy god father. Never is around for the kid. Who is anyway?"

"Jeriya Sensei" Teuchi said quickly and quietly

Asuma was shocked by this, he hadn't seen one of the sannin since Orochimaru went against the leaf, the last time he had seen Jiriya was back when he was a boy and his father had invited him to come and meet his new students. Asuma started on his way home, he had a lot to think about now.

**Shikimaru & Hinata **

Shikimaru and Hinata had been walking toward the Hyuga compound in silence the majority of the way when Shikimaru finally decided to start up conversation. "So when you gonna tell Naruto?"

Hinata was taken back by this. "W-w-what do you m-mean?" She asked nervously already pushing her fingers together looking away from him.

"Come on, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know you like Naruto."

'**WHO TOLD HIM! I BET IT WAS INO, SHES SO DEAD!**' Hinata walked silently shocked that Shikimaru knew.

"I-I-I just cant." She said in her little scared tone of voice

"Why not"

"I-It's just" she trailed off

"If you like a guy you should just tell him, I don't get why people are so troublesome. I mean if everyone just said how they felt there wouldn't be all the trouble of trying to figure out all these dumb feelings."

"You make it sound so simple." As she looked down disappointed

"I can tell him if you want."

'**SO CAN I!**' "No!" Shikimaru looked surprised by that. "I-its just that I want to be the one to tell him whenever I get the courage to."

"There you go making this a drag again." He said in a disappointed tone "I don't get what you really see in the guy even, I mean it's not like hes smart or good at anything really"

'**MY FIST WILL SEE YOU IF YOU SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT HIM AGAIN!**' "You shouldn't talk about Naruto-kun like that!" Hinata said in a strict tone encourage by her inner self. "He never gives up and always is confident about himself!"

"Wow I guess you really do have it bad for him huh." Shikimaru said with a smirk "I'll give him this he had some good plans with those clones earlier, and I don't know where he gets all that energy from."

The two walked to the Hyuga compound silently the rest of the way. Well Inner Hinata was still going off at Shikimaru, but Hinata didn't let it show. But unbeknown to them was that Sakura had followed them the majority of the way and heard the conversation. She had tried one more time to get Sasuke to go out with her but the young Uchiha had shot her down and hard. It made Sakura wonder if that's how Naruto had felt whenever she was mean to him. Once she heard what Hinata had said she wasn't sure how she felt about him. Sure he was annoying some of the time but that was just him lightening the mood and usually trying to get someone out of a slump. The more she thought about it the more funny a lot of those jokes and pranks had been. 'Do I like Naruto? I mean he's the complete opposite of Sasuke, but what was so special about him? Sasuke is mean but he's never done anything to make me laugh, the more I think about it he's only made me sad. Naruto has gone out of his way to compliment me and make me laugh.' '**I DON'T KNOW BOUT YOU BUT IM ON THE NARUTO TRAIN CHA!'** Sakura had a lot to think about that night.

**A/N: Still not sure who I'm gonna have Naruto end up with, gonna just keep on writing and see where that goes. The next chapter has a little bit of a time skip to it, were gonna see them on their first C rank mission and get to see some more action. Please review and tell me how you think I could improve, I feel like I might have slacked a bit on the bells test and want to improve so any criticism is welcome! I mean any feel free to just call me a dick if you think I suck oh well next chapter ****Fight or Flight.**


	3. Fight or Flight

**Chapter 3: Fight or Flight**

"Ok is everyone in position?" Asuma asked over the headset

"Yes, I-I'm ready"

"Yea yea can we hurry this up already," Naruto said quickly wanting to get the mission over with. "This is the third time we've had to track this guy down"

"Enough Naruto" Asuma said in an irritated voice "Now, Shikimaru are you in position?" … a moment passed "Shikimaru?"

"Is he sleeping again!" Naruto yelled over the headset giving away his position. The target looked over and began to hiss. It was the Fire Lord's Wife's cat that had a reputation for sneaking out of the house; it had a ribbon on the top of its head so that everyone could identify it.

"Naruto! Do you remember what I said about hiding your position when on a mission?" Naruto had made this mission difficult for them in the past by being too eager to sit and wait, and Shikimaru being his lazy self wasn't that much of a help on these mission. Team 8 already had ten D-rank missions done, twice as many as Teams 7 and 10. Asuma had been up to date on what the other rookie teams were at thanks to Kurenai, She was very interested in seeing how her team stacked up to Asuma's and Kakashi's. Kakashi's team hadn't learned much but they had some time to spare, Sasuke was at the top of the class and Kiba and Ino weren't slacking either. Kakashi had said how his team was nonstop fighting all the time with each other and was starting to wonder why he picked those three. Kurenai on the other had had great team chemistry. Choji was always very kind and brought lunch to every training session, Shino was still not talking much but from what Kurenai could see he liked his teammates. Sakura had progressed further than all the other genin, she had excellent chakra control and already started working on some chunin level Genjutsus.

Asuma thought his team was doing alright, Naruto had discovered his affinity element was wind so this worked perfectly with Asuma sharing that same one. They had worked on Beast Tearing Palm, a ninjutsu where when the user swiped his palm a long blade of wind would cut through the air and do a great deal of damage when used properly. Hinata's affinity was surprising to Asuma to find out it was fire. This gentle little girl had one of the most devastating elements. It took a while for Asuma to convince her to learn Phoenix Fire Technique thou. She was mortified after training one day and hitting Naruto left him covered in a black ash. But she was getting more control over it even thou she refused to use it in any of the sparring matches not wanting to hurt her teammates, although every now and again Shikimaru would say something bad about Naruto and a couple of fire balls would come his way.

Shikimaru was another story now. The boy refused to try and learn any jutsu. His affinity was earth but he never put forth the effort to actually learn one. He kept saying that his father nagged him enough and was teaching him more of his clan's personal jutsu, Asuma figured if anyone could get the boy to do something it would be Shikaku but still wished for just a little effort.

The cat suddenly bolted away from the brush they had surrounded, "Here I got an idea!" yelled Naruto charging from his bush with a familiar hand sign "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" suddenly there were 20 Narutos chasing the cat towards Hinata. Hinata just came out from her hiding spot extending her arms as the cat jumped into her arms happily hiding from the blond that it had a couple run ins with earlier.

Asuma and Naruto walked over to Hinata then seeing their mission was accomplished. "Well not how we planned but it gets it done I guess." Said Asuma scratching the back of his head a little sad his plan had failed.

"Man Hinata-Chan that cat really likes you" Naruto impressed with the girl

'**YEA HOW BOUT YOU TRY IT FOR ONCE!**' "I-If you s-say so Naruto-kun" Hinata said blushing still holding the cat in her arms.

"Now let's go find Shikimaru and report in" Asuma interrupted

"He's probably in the clearing again looking at clouds." Naruto replied annoyed with the shirkers lack of help.

**Hokage Tower**

Team 10 was now standing in the Hokage's office waiting for their new assignment, Naruto still complaining to Shikimaru about his lack of help. Shikimaru just said he figured it would run right to Hinata again and there was no reason for him to be there.

"Well looks like you guys still have time to do another D-rank mission today" said the Hokage with a small smile on his face

"Hell no!" yelled Naruto, Asuma just put a hand to his face 'does this kid ever shut up?' he thought annoyed. "I want a real mission none of these chores you keep having us do!"

The Hokage laughed to himself a bit knowing Naruto would want something more sooner or later. "That decision is up to your sensei" everyone's eyes now looked at Asuma. The Hokage secretly wanted his son to have a little more work, it would be good for him to have a little challenge.

"Come on Asuma sensei! We can handle it!" Naruto said with pleading baby eyes

"It's up to your teammates to Naruto" Asuma said trying to divert the attention away from him. Shikimaru just shrugged, then Naruto turned his attention to Hinata getting on his knees he grabbed her hand holding it with the same look he gave Asuma. 'Oh this will be good' Asuma thought sharing a look with Shikimaru.

"Please Hinata-Chan! Come on we can do this" He knelt there staring into her eyes while still holding his little cute begging face. Hinata blushed bright pink at this.

"W-W-Why I d-don't uhhhhh" She said flustered looking at him not able to speak. "I-I'll do w-whatever Naruto-Kun thinks is best" She finally was able to spit out. Shikimaru and Asuma just grinned at the girl's flustered composer whenever Naruto talked to her.

Naruto then leapt in the air cheering, as Hinata smiled at him.

The Hokage then let in the client who was a middle aged man with a beard, He introduced himself as Tazuna, he would complain about having all these little kids being his so called escorts but as he noticed the tall bulky guy that was Asuma he just figured he better not anger him. The team was told to meet at the village gates in an hr.

**Hinata**

Hinata was walking into the Hyuga compound, she remembered when Asuma sensei had come to talk with her father about him taking over her training.

_Hiashi and Asuma both stood in the head of the clans study as Asuma informed him of his eldest daughters training. Hiashi continued to say how he was not interested in her training, she had been a failure and was up shown by her sister five years her junior. As Hiashi continued stating how the girl was worthless and weak Asuma was grinding his teeth angry with how anyone could speak about their own daughter like this let alone such a nice girl._

"_I suggest you just shut it and try not being an ass" Asuma said with anger in his tone_

"_Who are you to tell me the head of the Hyuga clan what to do in my own house!" Hiashi snapped back at him_

"_I'm the girl's sensei and she is a good kid. You could take a few lessons from her" Asuma now yelling at him_

"_She is and always has been week and a failure, this is her destiny and no one can change destiny." Hiashi now looking down at his desk at a picture of his late wife and a picture of him and his brother when they both made chunin._

"_She is stronger than you think" Asuma now lowering his voice "She might not be the best fighter, or have a strong taijutsu but she has heart. And above all else she has the Will of Fire." Asuma began walking towards the door, just before he left he turned his head "When did you lose yours." _

_Asuma opened the door and left Hiashi sitting there in silence thinking of the words that he had just heard. He looked at the two pictures of his late brother and wife. 'I have really let you two down'_

_Outside the door Asuma saw Hinata there standing with her head straight down. He saw that there were tears dropping from the girl. He rested a hand on her shoulder "As long as the Will of Fire burns in you, you will never be weak" Asuma walked away with that_

'I must be strong, I can't be a burden to my teammates now.' Hinata thought to herself coming back into the present and proceeded into her home to grab her things.

**Main gate**

The group started heading out, Naruto and Hinata both were excited. This was their first time out of the village and Naruto started talking about how he was now a traveler and other things that Shikimaru didn't bother to care with. Shikimaru just wanted to look up at the clouds and relax the best he could, but Naruto was sure making that difficult. They continued walking for some time, it was a sunny day out and hadn't rained in days.

When the group got a good ways away from the village Asuma had them walk in a formation to protect the bridge builder. Asuma also had a hidden agenda with this. He put Hinata in front with Naruto at her side as Asuma and Shikimaru guarded the back. He was hoping to get Naruto and Hinata talking more since he seemed to be the best at getting her to speak and knowing Hinata had a huge crush on the boy.

Of course this worked with Naruto starting up a conversation with her talking about all the things they might encounter out on their mission and the dangers with excitement. Hinata was a little worried about this but she was glad she was getting to spend all this time with Naruto. Naruto eventually came out of his day dreams of fighting to actually look at Hinata and notice that she had a new outfit on. It was a light blue vest with a white shirt underneath along with a pair of black short shorts. Asuma had set up a day where Kurenai took the girl out to go shopping. He wanted her to wear something that would help make her more confident and as Asuma worded it "let her breath a little" this meant something that would get a certain boy's attention. Hinata had been wearing it for a couple days now and she was starting to like it.

"Hey Hinata-Chan I bet it's a lot cooler now without that huge bulky jacket on huh." Naruto said to her making her wonder if he didn't like her old outfit.

"uhhh y-yes. W-what do you think of it?" She asked scared of the answer

"I think you look great in it" Naruto was being honest, he never realized that Hinata had actually developed faster than the other girls their age, as his eyes wondered he started to mentally slap himself. 'I can't think about that, Hinata is a good person and my first real friend, I guess Shikimaru is kinda a friend now but he's just so boring.'

'He said I look great!' '**STEP 2 DOWN! NOW START WORKING IT GURL!**' Hinata blushed at this and looked at Naruto. She saw his eyes were checking her out and turned bright red. 'Oh god does he like me!' Hinata didn't know if she should feel weird at a boy looking at her like this or flattered. She decided it was ok since it was Naruto doing the looking, as long as he was still a gentle man about it at least.

Naruto and Hinata walked in mostly silence for a while after that, both would sneak a peek at the other every now and again and blush. Asuma was paying close attention and smirked to himself 'God I'm good at this stuff. I should try doing this for a living. But I hope Naruto doesn't realize Hinata likes him too soon.' Shikimaru had started a bet with him for when the truth was either realized or came out about how Hinata felt. It started with them but Shikimaru got Choji in on it, and Choji told Shino and Sakura. Sakura didn't take in on the bet she still wasn't sure how she felt about Naruto but hearing about Hinata liking him just filled the pink haired kuniochi with rage. Asuma had got Kurenai, Kakashi, and Iruka, Iruka got Ayame and Teuchi, and Kakashi told his team about it.

Kiba had already lost but the rest were still in on it. Kiba had tried to get the two together one day asking them to train with him out in the forest one day but had to go home the last second because "Akamaru had flees" It was a good plan except for Hinata being allergic to a flower that grew there and she couldn't stop sneezing the whole time.

The group continued on the long walk when Asuma and Shikimaru noticed a puddle. It was odd that there would be a puddle there when it was nice out all week. Shikimaru shrugged it off, but Asuma knew something was up. He figured this would be a good test for his team but hoped that it was too hard of a test.

Suddenly two figures came running out in a flash. They wrapped a sharp chain around Asuma and Shikimaru. Asuma was able to perform a substitution technique with both of them and hid in the woods holding a shocked Shikimaru's mouth shut. Then the two set their sight at the bridge builder. Hinata froze in shock and fear of her teammate and sensei both being shredded in front of her. The two quickly moved with their claws going straight for the bridge builder's head but were caught and thrown away by a giant gust of wind from their right. Both were thrown up against a tree and looked to see Naruto standing there. He had just used his new jutsu Beast Tearing Palm. Naruto then charged at the two with his kunai in hand. The two got up, one of their claws hit the incoming kunai as the other slashed toward the blond boy. Naruto quickly jumped back from this but was scratched at his arm.

He winced at the pain but kept his focus on the two enemies. One made a charge at Tazuna, Naruto tried to quickly intercept the attacker buy he was cut off by the other one of the two. Hinata quickly stood in front of Tazuna in her families Gentle Fist stance but fear was still in her eyes. The attacker was nearing the girl and Tazuna when he was suddenly hit in the back of the head by some kind of brass knuckle. He was immediately unconscious. The other turned around to be greeted by another fist with iron on the knuckle.

Asuma had taken the two out in seconds. Hinata, Naruto and Tazuna all stood there shocked for a moment at what just unfolded. Shikimaru began to walk out from the brush for once he wasn't yawning or looking ready to pass out. His eyes were just as wide as everyone else's.

Asuma finally broke the silence with a smile scratching the back of his head "Sorry bout that, figured I'd test you guys and see how you did."

"But, but how? I saw you and Shikimaru get torn apart" Naruto stuttered out still in shock.

"It was a replacement technique you moron" replied Shikimaru back to his usual self.

Asuma looked over his students still seeing Naruto trying to calm himself from all the adrenalin that was pumping in his system. But then his gaze traveled over to Hinata who still looked mortified and was shaking. 'Maybe I went a little far with that one' "You both did well, Naruto good job reacting quickly with your Beast Tearing Palm. And Hinata you did good keeping in between the enemy and Tazuna."

Hinata looked down at the ground in shame. 'I just stood there. If sensei hadn't come and saved me I'd be dead. I wish I could have been more helpful like Naruto but I was just a burden to my team.'

Naruto had finally calmed down and saw Hinata was looking down. He figured he could go cheer her up a bit. As he started walking over to her Asuma spoke "Hey why don't you go get that wound cleared up Naruto, I heard a creek running not too far from here, Hinata, Shikimaru, go with him to. Tazuna and I have something to talk about.' As he was now eyeing up the old man.

Once the three reached the river Hinata insisted she look at the cut on Naruto's arm. Out of the three she was the most skilled in first aid. As Hinata helped fix up Naruto's wound she noticed there was poison, luckily she had some ointment from her garden with her so she could disinfect it.

Meanwhile Shikimaru was looking over the paper that held all the bets on it. He looked and checked his guess, it was three days after when the first chunin exam day was set for. He looked over at the two and figured he may have to start taking a bigger role in helping them out. He still had one month thou and this mission was going to last at least another week or two.

The three returned to the trail with Asuma looking angry at Tazuna. "Seems that our client here forgot to mention to us that he had a couple threats coming to him from some drug smuggler." He glared at the middle aged man.

"I come from a poor village, we couldn't afford to pay for a higher ranking mission. That's why I'm building the bridge in the first place. It will make it so that bastard Gato doesn't have a monopoly on our people anymore." Tazuna stating his case for his misleading the leaf.

The five of them discussed the situation they were in. Shikimaru no longer wanted to go through with the mission but Naruto objected to that say how he made a promise when he took the mission to make sure Tazuna made it home safe and finished the bridge. Hinata of course sided with Naruto. Eventually after a bit of arguing and Tazuna saying how his grandson would cry at night if anything happened to him, Shikimaru and Asuma agreed to keep on with the mission.

Asuma had tied up the two would be assassins, that were listed in the bingo book as the demon brothers, and sent word back to the leaf requesting back up. It would be a couple of days until back up would arrive, that is if the Hokage did decide to send it.

The group started back on their journey. They had to take a boat though a mist to reach the island. Traveling in the area had been dangerous because of this Gato man and because of this they had to turn off the motor to the boat and had to paddle the rest of the way in silence which was diving Naruto insane.

When they finally reached the shore Tazuna thanked the man who had given them the ride to the island. They could finally talk again but only to a certain volume. Asuma was on his toes with this mist that surrounded them. They continued walking on a path to the village that Tazuna lived. They still had about 8 miles to go.

As they continued on Asuma had started to get more on edge. There was a large amount of killer intent in the air. He felt someone else's chakra but didn't want to worry the others. He silently slipped his chakra blades on just to be ready. When suddenly Naruto leapt in front and hurled his kunai into the brush.

Everyone turned to him suddenly in shock wondering if there was someone out there. Hinata activated her Byakugon to see through all the brush. "It, It's just a bunny"

Shikimaru and Tazuna both breathed a sigh of relieve at that as the small white rabbit hopped out frightened. Naruto scratched the back of his head with a sad grin on his face as Shikimaru and Tazuna both started yelling at him for making them worried for no reason.

As the bickering continued Asuma quickly looked at the rabbit and noticed it was white. 'How is it that the rabbit has white fur in this time of season. Unless!' "Everyone get down!" He yelled suddenly.

A giant blade came swinging overhead and implanted itself into a nearby tree. The three genin all looked at it with worried expressions on their faces. Suddenly a large figure stood on the giant sword chuckling to himself. He wasn't quite as tall as Asuma but he was still a big man none the less. He had bandages covering his neck and part of his face going up just past the nose. He had two leather straps going across his chest with no shirt on. He wore white camo pants and two arm sleeves on his forearms. "Why what do I have hear? They sent children out to try and stop me? No matter it's not like it will be my first time killing some little brats." The man said still chuckling to himself.

"Who the hell are you?" Asuma asked the sadistic looking man.

"I am Zabuza Momochi, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. And I'll be the one killing all of you today." At that the three genin all gasped looking in horror at this man that was quickly giving off more of a monster type of vibe.

"Zabuza eh. You're listed in the Bingo Book as an A-rank missing nin." Asuma stated not taking his eyes off of the missing nin for even a second. Zabuza was returning the look right back at Asuma, but he would glace at the three genin from time to time and get joy in seeing them cower.

"What is your name?" asked Zabuza looking into the group

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! And I" Naruto started

"I wasn't talking to you brat. I'm talking to the big guy here with those cute little chakra blades." Interrupted Zabuza

Asuma still staring daggers at the man, "I am Asuma Sarutobi, former member of the Guardian Shinobi 12."

Zabuza began chuckling to himself again "I thought I recognized you, you have a bigger bounty on your head than even I do!" Naruto and Shikimaru shared a look of mild confusion and glanced at their sensei quick. "Looks like this mission is gonna land me more money than I originally thought. Enough with the pleasantries. I have to finish this and take two heads in now.

"Protect the bridge builder now!" ordered Asuma, the three genin all surrounded each side of him all holding kunai.

"Hidden Mist Jutsu" Zabuza said monotone while holding his hands in a seal that the genin were not aware of. A large fog rose then. No one could see more than ten feet in front of them.

Shikimaru was starting to panic, he had never come face to face with a ninja this powerful, with this much killing intent. Asuma had taken him out of the battle earlier, Hinata and Naruto both had their moment of shock already, and were now focused on the task at hand. But Shikimaru was shaking, he didn't remember the last time his heart was beating so fast.

"Shikimaru. It's all going to be fine. I will protect all of you with my life." Asuma said calmly but with determination in his voice. Shikimaru and the other two understood what that meant. They thought back to when they all first became genin and Asuma explained to them what the Will of Fire meant.

"But how can we fight what we don't see sensei?" asked Naruto

"You three won't fight. This guy is out of your guys' league." Replied Asuma.

"He's above us!" Hinata yelled out. Hinata Shikimaru and Naruto quickly moved out of the path with the bridge builder. Zabuza then landed right where they had been standing, Asuma quickly lashed out with his chakra blades. Zabuza intercepted the blow with his large sword.

"How did you brats know where I was?" He demanded still holding his ground with Asuma. Suddenly three surikan came whistling through the fog and hit Zabuza in the back. Hinata could see everything with her byakugon and had taken advantage the opponent with his back turned in the mist. Asuma saw his chance and lunged forward piercing the swordsman in the chest with his chakra blade. But all that came out was water.

"Behind you sensei!" yelled Hinata as a large blade cut the Jonin in half.

"Looks like you were a little too slow" Zabuza said

"Really, I was about to say the same to you." Zabuza's eyes widened at that as he felt a blade up against the back of his neck.

"A shadow clone. Very clever, I'll give you that." Zabuza quickly ducked away from the Jonin and retreated to the mist.

"Naruto get rid of this mist" ordered Asuma

"Beast Tearing Palm!" A giant gust of wind blew through the area. Naruto had widened it out so it wasn't a blade but just a strong wind that pushed the mist away. There standing on the water was Zabuza trying to figure a way around this team. As he studied them he saw that the girl had veins sticking out from around her eyes. 'So that's how they saw me in the mist. That blond kid seems to use wind. But I won't be able to get close to that girl with Sarutobi here. Good thing I have a backup plan.'

Unbeknown to the leaf ninja was that there was another figure waiting in the trees. This person was wearing a large blue coat with an anbu mask. The figure was about the same size as Naruto with long black hair.

"How bout it Sarutobi, you and me fight this out here one v one." Said Zabuza standing out on the lake.

Asuma turned to Shikimaru, "Have you come up with a plan of attack yet?"

"Yea I think so. This guy is a missing nin of the mist so he is most likely a water style user. Fighting him on the lake will put us at a huge disadvantage. If you can lure him out onto the land I think I have a strategy."

Asuma nodded his head. "Ok try this out, Ash Pile Burning!" Asuma yelled as he blew out a black ash of some kind. This made Zabuza start running quickly to the left. Asuma quickly slammed his teeth together starting a blaze and explosion out of all the ash he had just blew out. A small portion had hit Zabuza.

"Hinata, Naruto Now!" Barked out Asuma

"Phoenix Fire Jutsu!" "Beast Tearing Palm!" Naruto and Hinata said in unison

The two jutsus combined and formed one massive blade of fire heading straight towards the missing nin. Zabuza had nowhere to go but up. He leapt high into the air, that's when Asuma saw an opportunity and leapt up as well infusing his chakra with his blades he lashed out.

Zabuza saw this and tried to evade. He was cut on the arm thou as he landed on the ground. Coming down straight for him was Asuma who looked ready to land a lethal blow. Zabuza quickly tried to raise his blade but was shocked he couldn't move.

"Shadow Possession complete" Said Shikimaru with a small grin on his face.

The person in the tree that was Zabuza's backup saw this and tried to quickly throw two senbon needles into a spot on Zabuza's neck to make the leaf believe he was sent to capture Zabuza. This had worked in the past. The two senbon needles struck the target dead on. But it was too late for Asuma to stop. He came down in a flash and had one of his chakra blades imbedded four inches into Zabuza's chest. Zabuza fell to his knees

The person with the Anbu mask quickly rushed to his side and grabbed him. "No, Master Zabuza!" He cried out. "You were the only reason my life had a purpose! You can't die!"

Zabuza coughed up blood. The leaf ninjas watched as this younger looking boy held the large Zabuza in his arms, losing his composer at the death of his master.

"Haku" Zabuza was able to barely speak. "Take off that mask boy" The mystery person apparently called Haku proceeded to put his hand toward his mask to remove it but was stopped by the presence of a blade to the back of his neck.

"Who are you?" demanded Asuma

The young nin turned to Asuma "You. You all did this. My one purpose in life. You have made me now live without a purpose and taken the one person that I ever cared for. You will all pay for this." The boy said with pure hatred and sorrow in his words.

"You're not really in the place to be making threats right now." Replied Asuma

Suddenly a large ice mirror erupted out of the ground in between Asuma and the two Zabuza and Haku. Quickly Haku grabbed Zabuza and escaped into the woods.

The three genin all looked on in some horror at the blood that was dripping from their sensei's chakra blade and the puddle on the ground.

"Who. Who was that" Asked Hinata in a frightened tone.

"I don't know but we can't stay here long. Tazuna how much further until your house?" said Asuma

"Not far only about two more miles." Replied the old man

The five continued on to Tazuna's home and would be resting there. Not much was said that night. The three were still trying to recover from what they saw. Not one of them thought that someone so evil as Zabuza would have someone close to him, that cared for him, that loved him. It was a tough thing to think about. Hinata thought about how sad she was when her mother died. Shikimaru thought how sad he would be if anything happened to his parents. Naruto didn't know what to think. On one had his team made it out safe, on the other he wondered what it was like to lose someone you're so close to. He thought about losing Iruka and wondered if anyone would feel the way that boy did if he died.

Asuma was busy thinking about who that boy was and what he was doing with someone like Zabuza. 'He said we would all pay. And what the hell was that jutsu he did with the ice. I don't think that's the last we'll see of him.'

**A/N: Yup Zabuza is dead. And Haku is without a purpose now. Haku is going to play a major role in this story but is it going to be good or bad? You might be surprised by him.**


	4. What is My Purpose?

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys, you've all been really supportive and that does motivate me to get these chapters out fast. Well hope you guys enjoy the chapter.**

**Chapter 4: What is my Purpose? **

**Tazuna's House**

Everyone was at the dinner table enjoying breakfast. The three genin had calmed down from yesterday but were still nervous about the boy from yesterday and his claim to avenge his master Zabuza.

Asuma saw there was still some concern on his student's faces. 'I need to do something to get their minds off of yesterday. Like this they won't be that much of a help. I sure hope dad sent some backup.' Asuma decided that some training would be a good way to get his genin's minds.

"Ok guys lets wrap up breakfast. I got a new type of training for you three to help your chakra control."

"A new type of training! Alright!" exclaimed Naruto

"Awe more work" moaned Shikimaru

The team started out to the forest to start their new training. Once the team arrived to the spot that seemed best to Asuma, he turned to the three genin. "Ok, today were going to work on chakra control. Each of you will climb a tree, the one rule is that you can only use your feet."

The three genin all looked at their sensei thinking you gotta be kidding me. "What don't believe me?" asked Asuma innocently. He then proceeded to walk towards a tree, to everyone's shock he was walking up the tree only on his feet.

"How are you doing that sensei!" demanded Naruto

"By flowing chakra into my feet I can use it to hold me to a surface, in this case the tree. Now you guys try it, and keep track of how far you get each time with your kunai."

The three genin all picked up a kunai, started to focus their chakra and run at the tree. Naruto fell right away, Shikimaru made it about ten feet before he fell off, but Hinata had almost made it to the indicated branch for everyone to aim for.

"Very good Hinata, keep it up and you'll put these boys to shame." Asuma congratulating the girl of the squad. At this Hinata just started to blush. Shikimaru glanced over at how much further Hinata had gotten than him. 'Oh man what a drag, if dad finds out I got beat by a girl he'll never let me live it down.'

"Hey what's the deal sensei why did I just fall off immediately?" complained Naruto with a pouty face.

"You suck" mumbled Shikimaru

"What was that Shikimaru!" Naruto replied

"I said…" Shikimaru trailed off looking just past Naruto was an enraged Hinata with fire in her eyes. She had heard what he said and was not too happy about it. She never stood up for Naruto in school but she was also shy, she knew both Naruto and Shikimaru more now and she felt like she could show a little more of her emotions around them. Well mainly anger at Shikimaru.

"To answer your question Naruto you were using too little chakra. If you don't use enough you fall off. But if you use too much you will break the tree." Asuma said looking at the young blond. "Hinata it looks like you'll master this soon, but it is also a good chakra building exercise as well".

The three continued running up the trees for hours. At one point Naruto asked Hinata if she could watch him and tell him if he needs more or less chakra. She blushed at this but did agree.

Shikimaru saw this and saw a perfect chance to tease his teammates "So Hinata just how much can you see when you use that Byakugon of yours?" Asked Shikimaru with a smirk. Hinata blushed at her first thought of it but then realized Naruto was here too.

"Wait Hinata-Chan you can see though my clothes!" Naruto embarrassed he had just asked the girl to look at him.

"No, I-I can't, I m-mean kinda can, b-but w-would never do that to you!" Hinata was panicking, '**GREAT NOW HE THINKS WERE A PERVERT!**'. Shikimaru in the meantime was on the ground holding his side at the scene that was unfolding in front of him.

**Meanwhile**

Haku had brought Zabuza's body back to Gato's lair, he didn't know where else to bring him. Haku had placed him in the bed and covered up all but his face. Which itself was half covered in bandages. Here lying right in front of the boy was the closest person he had to real family. His own father had killed his mother and tried to kill Haku, but Haku was able to escape because of his Kekkei Genkai. Zabuza had been more of a father to Haku than anyone else, he gave Haku a purpose in life and that was to have Zabuza's dream come true. But now He was gone. Haku continued to weep over Zabuza silently.

Then the door to the room opened, walking in was a short man with glasses on in what appeared to be and expensive suit. "So Zabuza, The Demon of the Mist actually croaked." He said in a smug voice. This irritated Haku to an extreme. "Oh well just means that I have one less Mist ninja to pay" As he said this he was raising his cane to poke Zabuza to make sure he was in fact dead. The cane poked Zabuza in the face and moved his head over a little. In a flash a sea of senbon needles flew at the doorway and killed the two body guards Gato had brought with him. Gato looked at the boy who had just done this and saw a new level of killer intent directed right at him.

"How dare you!" Haku yelled at Gato with an untold amount of hate in the word "Zabuza was ten times the man you could ever hope to be and here you are disrespecting him." Gato was shivering in fear as he was sitting up against the wall with this boy standing over him.

"Look I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me kid, I'm still the only one that can pay you." Gato begging for his life

Haku got a little smirk out of this "You know, one thing that Master Zabuza taught me was that you get to see what a person is really like right before they die. Zabuza died caring for me, but you, you die begging for mercy like a coward!" Haku then formed a hand sign, a giant ice spear came out of the floor and drove itself threw Gato.

Haku sat back down next to Zabuza. Ignoring the room that now had four dead bodies and blood everywhere.

**Naruto, Hinata, and Shikimaru**

Hinata had eventually convinced Naruto that she could only see his chakra under his clothes and the three got back to their training. Naruto was making a lot of progress, he was now able to get to the first branch and he and Hinata were trying to go higher. Shikimaru just stopped when he got to the first branch, figured it would be good enough and no reason to put himself into chakra exhaustion.

A couple more hours passed and it was now getting dark out, Shikimaru had stayed for a while to watch the clouds but he was now back at Tazuna's house relaxing, playing a game of shogi with Asuma. But Hinata and Naruto were both still practicing the tree climbing. Hinata was going off of pure will power at this point, she had wanted to give up but every time doubt entered her mind she would look at Naruto still pushing himself.

Naruto eventually noticed this and was starting to admire the girl's dedication. He had never had someone train with him this long. When he was a kid him and Kiba would race allot but after Kiba would win about five times he would go home. Naruto thought it was nice not being alone, and having someone to push him. They continued doing this until Hinata collapsed. She had worked herself so hard she just passed out right then and there.

Naruto walked over to her to check on her. 'Man she worked herself this hard. I've never seen a girl work as hard as she just did' Naruto reached down and brushed some of her hair out of her face. Naruto continued to look He had never really taken the time to look at Hinata before. He saw how peaceful her face looked, with her red blushed cheeks from running so long.

Naruto was about to pick her up bridal style when he heard a noise not too far. His defensive instincts kicked in as he grabbed a Kunai. "Hey who's ever out there, show yourself." He demanded.

Slowly what looked like a girl (Really Haku) walked out from behind a tree in a pink kimono. The girl didn't say anything as she just looked at Naruto standing in front of Hinata who was sleeping on the ground. Haku had seen them training for a while and saw her collapse. He didn't know what exactly he was doing here. These are the people that helped kill his master.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto said in a stern voice.

"Your friend, is she ok" replied Haku gesturing toward the girl. Naruto looked down at his friend again. He decided that this new person didn't seem to pose a threat and knelt down next to Hinata again.

"Yea I think so, she just trained a little too hard today." Naruto said in a now calm voice "but you still never told me why you're out here"

"I was remembering someone that I loved" Replied Haku, Haku then walked over to where Hinata lay and Naruto was sitting. Haku saw Naruto still looking down on the girl with the dark blue hair and pale skin "Have you ever loved someone?"

Naruto looked up confused at this question and then looked back down. "I… I don't really know what love is." Haku was a little surprised by the answer he got out of the blond boy. "You see I never knew who my parents were. They died when I was born." Naruto was visibly saddened to talk about it.

"But there must be someone that you felt close to" Haku said looking at Hinata still sleeping in between the two of them.

"I mean there was Iruka sensei, he was the first person who ever believed in me, but that wasn't until I graduated from the academy just a month ago." Naruto began to think back to that day. And began telling Haku everything that happened except for the nine tails being inside of him.

Haku looked at the boy amazed, 'he's like me, rejected by everyone for a reason we don't know, no family no friends' "you said that this Iruka was the first person to believe in you"

"Yea, it meant so much to me that day to know that not everyone thought I was a failure." Replied Naruto with some happiness in his voice.

"But you also said that when you failed the exam, before that person you called Mizuki tricked you, that you were sitting on the swing alone and Hinata came and said you would be a great ninja someday."

Naruto looked shocked at this. He did remember Hinata saying all that. Naruto looked down at the still sleeping Hinata. 'You're the first person that… ever truly believed in me' Naruto had to take a gulp, he never thought of that moment since the ordeal he went through that night over shadowed it.

Haku saw that he had made the blond boy realize something and he felt good about it. He had helped someone realize that there was someone precious to him, and that he wasn't truly alone. But Haku was alone now. He had lost his purpose and was looking for a new one. Maybe this boy has the answers I'm looking for. "What is your purpose?"

Naruto looked up at this confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"Do you have a reason for being here, a goal that you must accomplish?"

"You mean like a dream?" Naruto said still confused

"Yes like a dream, something that you feel you must do."

"Well my dream is to one day become the most powerful Shinobi in the world and become Hokage." Naruto said with a grin

"What is it that the Hokage does exactly?"

Naruto scratched his chin and thought about it for a second. Then he remembered a lesson from the academy when they went to go see the great stone faces and the Old man showed up to tell them about the past Hokage. "The Hokage is responsible for making sure everyone in the village is safe, he protects us all"

"So you want to protect everyone that is precious to you?"

"Yes, I would risk my life to save people that I'm close to."

Haku realized something right then. He was willing to take that blade for Zabuza the other day. He was ready to die for Zabuza. 'If this boy is telling me the truth then he will surely die at a young age if he keeps sacrificing himself for others.'

"Well it's getting late and I think the others might get worried if we take too long." Naruto said as he began to pick up Hinata bridal style.

"It was nice meeting you Naruto, I look forward to when we meet again"

"Yea me too, Hey I didn't catch your name earlier."

"It's Haku. And tell your sensei I say hi" At that Haku disappeared into the forest.

Naruto didn't think much of it. He had thought he heard that name from somewhere before but he couldn't place his finger on it. He figured Asuma must have been in the area before on a previous mission.

**Tazuna's House**

Dinner was just being put out when Naruto and Hinata walked in, Naruto still caring her bridal style. Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter awed at this thinking it was cute. "Here let me take a picture of this!"

"Tsunami why you gotta go embarrassing the kids like this!" Tazuna said

"I'm not embarrassing them! They are gonna love looking back on this when they're older." Tsunami now had the camera and was lining up the shot. Both of them were covered in dirt and looked a little beat, Naruto standing there in the doorway holding Hinata who was comfortably snuggled in to Naruto's arms still sleeping. "Say Cheese!"

Naruto smiled as the flash went off. Asuma quickly pulled out a piece of paper and looked it over. It was his copy of when everyone made their picks. Choji had the closest pick to right now. Asuma's wasn't for another three weeks.

**Flash back**

_It was the middle of a training session, Naruto and Hinata were sparring right now as Asuma and Shikimaru were standing off to the side watching. "So when do you think he'll realize she likes him?" Shikimaru asked_

"_Two months"_

"_You sound pretty confident about that sensei"_

"_Hey I'm just a genius when it comes to women"_

"_Oh yea care to make a little bet?" Shikimaru said with a grin_

"_Oh there is no way I'll lose this, I've just got a way of playing cupid."_

"_Ok what day do you pick?"_

"_August 3__rd__" Asuma said confidently_

"_Oki I pick August 4__th__" Shikimaru said as a large grin went over his face. Asuma just looked at him a little angrily. 'Little smart ass'_

**Back to present**

"Here Naruto I'll carry Hinata to her room, you just enjoy supper" Said Asuma sincerely. 'Can't let them get too carried away. Shikimaru grinned knowing what Asuma was doing.

"Yea Naruto why don't you come over here and tell me how training went" added Shikimaru

Asuma then left carrying Hinata away. Naruto, Shikimaru and Tazuna began talking about the training, how Naruto nearly reached the top of the tree and all that. Dinner was now being served to them, Asuma had returned in time. As they continued eating Naruto began to tell them about the boy he had met and how embarrassed he was to think that this guy was a girl at first. Tazuna gave him some crap about liking boys that started a little argument.

"Aaaaaachuuu! Sorry guys I must have gotten a cold out there so long." Said Naruto after he sneezed.

"You know when you sneeze people say that means someone is talking about you." Shikimaru stated.

**Konaha**

A girl's voice was speaking "Hey Sasuke… Hey Sasuke… hey Sasuke"

"What do you want Ino" Sasuke said in an irritated voice

"Want to go out and get something to eat?" replied Ino Happily

"For the hundredth time today the answer is still no"

"God Ino you're more annoying than Naruto you know that" Interrupted Kiba

"Who asked you dog breathe!"

Kakashi stood there looking at his team and sighed. 'Sometimes I wonder why I ever made that deal with Asuma' the three continued to fight, like they constantly did.

**Tazuna's House**

"Oh Asuma sensei, that boy I met told me to say hi to you." Asuma looked at Naruto curiously.

"He sounded like he knew you" Asuma hadn't gone into the village at all since he arrived here, and he hadn't been in the country since he was just a chunin over ten years back.

"What was this kid's name?"

"Haku" At that Asuma and Shikimaru both flinched and were staring at Naruto. That was the name they both heard Zabuza call the boy who had grabbed him and ran away.

"Haku was the name of the guy who was with Zabuza when we battled him Naruto" said Shikimaru still shocked.

"Tell me everything he said to you" demanded Asuma. Naruto then went on to explain that the boy was asking him if he had a purpose and that he was remembering someone he loved but had died. It was starting to click in Naruto's head and he was a little scared to think that an enemy had gotten that close to him without him even realizing it.

That news had kind of ruined the good dinner they were having as everyone was on their toes thinking that this man that was allied with Zabuza could now be outside of the house waiting to strike while they all slept. Asuma decided he would stay up to keep watch just to be on the safe side.

The next day everyone was still a little concerned about this Haku person and how he had talked to Naruto. Hinata and Asuma were asleep as the rest had breakfast. Shikimaru was to watch Tazuna today and Naruto figured he would train just outside of the house. Naruto had gotten better at the tree climbing but he still didn't master it. He continued this for most of the day.

Around noon Hinata finally woke up and strolled into the kitchen where Tsunami and Inari were. Inari was sitting at the table drawing while Tsunami was doing chores.

"Well it looks like you finally woke up" said Tsunami with a cheerful smile.

"H-How long was I asleep?"

"Well its noon now and Naruto carried you in around nine last night"

"N-Naruto-kun carried me in?" Hinata asked blushing

"Yes it was so sweet I had to take a picture of it. It was just too cute to pass up" Hinata was blushing bright red at this. She couldn't believe that Naruto had carried her and now there was proof.

"Oh Hinata I need to go pick some things up in town and get my camera film developed, do you want to come with?" Hinata was still too low on chakra to do any training today and figured she would like to see the town. Tsunami invited Inari too but he refused, she figured with Naruto here he would be safe anyways. So the two girls walked to the village.

Once there Hinata was saddened to see just how poor all the people were, and how bad of condition the whole village was in. She wondered how hard life would be if her village was this economically depressed. Tsunami could see this and offered for them to go get a cup of tea at a good tea shop. Once they got the groceries that Tsunami needed and got her pictures developed the two sat down at a table in the middle of the shop. "Here why don't you look at these while I'm gone Tsunami handed Hinata the pictures and excused herself to the washroom at that point.

As Hinata sat there alone she could see out of the corner of her eye a man was reaching behind her towards a spot that only a very rude pervert would reach. Hinata was scared and started to get ready to defend herself but before she could act someone else already had. The man's had had a senbon needle stuck through it. The man yelled in pain.

"It would be wise for you to keep your hands to yourself from now on." A boy's voice said from a table near them. The man screamed in pain and ran out of the store saying that they misunderstood. The boy then looked at Hinata.

"Thank you." Hinata said

"It's alright, I just don't like greedy people that take from others" the boy replied. "You look like you're not from around here."

Hinata nodded "I'm here on a m-mission to protect Tazuna the bridge builder from some Goto man."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about him"

"Whys that?" Hinata said with a confused expression

"Just a hunch."

Hinata was confused about the boy, why was he being so kind, and everyone else in the village seemed to be afraid to even mention Gato but this boy didn't seem to be. Hinata continued to study him and was curious about who he was. "You don't seem like you're from here either"

"I'm not, me and a friend were traveling through here and came into a bit of a bump" The boy said staring down into his tea. Hinata had learned how to read people by body language and could tell the boy was sad to bring up his friend and wondered if something might have happened to him.

"Well, I-I'm Hinata Hyuga from the leaf village."

"It's nice to meet you Hinata" the boy said with a smile. The boy then stared off into his tea again.

"It l-looks like something is troubling you"

The boy looked up to Hinata. "I've been wondering what my purpose is in this world." The boy said not looking up from his tea.

Hinata was a little confused by the remark. "Everyone has a p-purpose, it is what makes us all unique." Hinata gave a sincere looking smile at the boy she had just met.

"What is your purpose?" The boy asked now looking up at Hinata from his tea

Hinata thought about it for a while, no one had ever asked her that before. "I'm not sure, b-but one day I-I want to remove the curse mark of my clans branch family and…" she trailed off thinking about other dreams she had about being a mother, raising children and being with Naruto.

The boy saw this and pushed the issue. "You have dreams don't you, I ust to have dreams. But I don't anymore. I just want a purpose, something that will give my life meaning."

"Well I d-do have dreams" Hinata said with a blush, she looked at the picture of Naruto holding her with a big smile on his face, Hinata day dreamed off a bit hoping one day that picture changed and she would be in a wedding dress the next time.

"Is that someone that is precious to you?" the boy asked. Hinata looked right at him quickly blushing. The boy continued "Do you want all of their dreams to come true one day" Hinata thought about it and she did want all of Naruto's dreams to come true, she wanted him to be happy and she wanted him to one day become Hokage.

"Yes. I do" She replied still holding the photo looking at it.

The boy noticed this and smiled. "Could you say you love this person?" Hinata didn't know what to say, she had just met this guy and he was asking all these personal questions, but he wasn't doing it for his own amusement he was asking because he was looking for a deeper meaning behind it. "I once loved someone." The boy said seeing Hinata was shy. "But I lost that person, all I ever wanted was for their dream to come true, but now that is too late."

Hinata looked at the boy and now realized why he seemed so sad. She thought how sad she would be if anything bad happened to Naruto, if his dream of being Hokage was ruined or if he was gone. What would she do if someone she cared so much about was gone? She thought back to when her mother died and how sad she was. That was the toughest time in her life.

Hinata then put the pictures down and spoke out "When someone dies, it doesn't mean you die. It means your dreams of you and that person d-die. But you have to keep moving forward. Y-you have to find a new purpose, a new dream"

The boy then stood up and walked over to Hinata. "Thank you Hinata. You have helped me." The boy said standing next to her. He had a tear going down his cheek. "I now know what my purpose is" He then started walking out of the tea shop. Just before he left he said one more thing. "Oh and could you tell your sensei that Haku says he will be meeting him again soon."

Hinata froze at this, she remembered Zabuza calling that boy he was with Haku. She had just had a deep conversation with someone that probably wanted to kill her sensei and didn't even know it. Tsunami came back and saw that Hinata was sitting there is a daze. "Hinata are you alright? Where did that cute picture of you and Naruto go to?" Hinata quickly looked down and saw that the picture was missing. 'Was that boy really Haku? Who really is Haku?'

**And the plot builds up! Now just for some little fun here is the list of bets for when/if Hinata and Naruto get together. I'm basing the story starting in Early June since they graduated from the academy and that's when school gets out in the US**

**Kiba – June 20****th**

**Choji-July 10****th**

**Ino- July 25th**

**Asuma- August 3****rd**

**Shikimaru- August 4****th**

**Shino- August 24****th**

**Kurenai- September 8****th**

**Kakashi- September 15****th**

**Iruka- October 10th Sasuke- December 27****th**** Birthday guys**

**Konahamaru- 2 years from February 14****th**

**Sakura- N/A**


	5. The Fog Thickens

**Chapter 5: The Fog Thickens**

**Tazuna's House**

Naruto was outside of the bridge builder's house training on walking up trees. He was getting the hang of it, and walking up trees was now easy for him. He could easily walk up a ninety degree angle just fine and he never seemed to get tired. Naruto figured he just had really great stamina from running away from chunin whenever he pulled one of his pranks. None of the chunin could ever catch him; it either took a jonin or an ANBU black ops member. And Iruka, Iruka probably caught him the most, he never knew how Iruka would always seem to guess where Naruto's hiding spots were but the guy was good.

Naruto eventually decided that he had mastered the tree walking and figured he could go inside and see if Asuma had any more training he could do. That is if Asuma was awake yet. The jonin had stayed up all night keeping watch for Haku.

Naruto was still a little freaked out and confused about that. Here this person that worked with Zabuza was literally within a foot of Naruto and a sleeping Hinata; He could have easily gotten the jump on them. Naruto was exhausted and Hinata was literally asleep, but the boy just talked to Naruto about his dreams and purpose. This bothered Naruto, he scratched the back of his head as he walked into Tazuna's house.

Once inside he heard some footsteps upstairs. Naruto figured Asuma must be awake and began walking up the stair. As he walked up the stairs he looked around, on the walls were a bunch of pictures, Tsunami liked to take pictures, she had taken a ton since they arrived. She took pictures of Asuma and Shikimaru playing shogi, Naruto and Tazuna arguing, Hinata in Naruto's arms, and even Asuma sitting on the roof with the moonlight behind him while he was on watch. The woman literally had enough for a scrapbook of team 10, but none of the team seemed to mind. As Naruto continued to look at the pictures he noticed that in a lot of them there was a man cut out. 'Wonder who that guy is?'

Naruto reached the top floor and started walking down the hall when he saw a door slightly cracked and heard sounds coming from it. He looked in and saw that Inari was sitting looking out his window crying. The boy was not what most would call a kind host by any means. The boy never liked to talk the leaf ninja it seemed and was usually up in his room the majority of the time. Naruto snuck into the room, it wasn't too hard sneaking up on people that weren't ninjas. He looked over Inari's shoulder and saw that the boy was holding a picture of a man. Naruto was about to say something but was interrupted when Inari cried out to the ocean. He had still not noticed Naruto.

"Daddy. Why did you have to go and get yourself killed?" The boy was sniffling at this. "Why did you have to be a hero?" Naruto had seen enough.

"Hey Inari" this startled Inari and he nearly fell out the window. "Is that the man that's cut out of all those pictures in the stairway?" Inari looked at Naruto angrily.

"He was my dad. He died because he was trying to be a stupid hero." Inari said coldly "He'd still be alive if he would have just stayed out of the way.

"What did he do?" Inari went on to explain how when Gato came to town he imposed his will on the village and Inari's father had stood up to Gato. But Gato and his men savagely beat Inari's father to death in front of him and the entire village. A man once seen as a hero by the village was now nothing but a sad memory.

Naruto didn't know what to say really. He never had a family so he didn't really know what it was like to lose someone like family. Someone precious to you. Those words rang deep in Naruto as he remembered his conversation with Haku. "You can't let your whole life be dictated over one person's death Inari." Naruto said is a soft voice.

"What do you know about any of it!" Inari retorted with tears still streaming down his face.

"I don't know what it's like. But I do know that if someone I cared about died, and if they died for a good cause, I wouldn't let other people tell me their way of life was wrong. Your dad didn't die a stupid death; he died fighting for something he believed in. Something you should believe in. You have to give your life a purpose! Cause if you don't, what's the point in living." Naruto began walking out of the room. 'I wonder if Haku found a purpose?'

Inari sat in his room and tried to digest what Naruto had just said to him. He thought about what his father died for. And wondered what his purpose in life is.

Naruto began walking down the hall towards the stairs; he had forgotten why he even went up there in the first place. All he was thinking about right now was Haku. Trying to think what he meant yesterday and what he was planning to do.

As Naruto reached the bottom of the stairs Hinata and Tsunami were rushing in the doorway. "Naruto-kun where is Asuma sensei?" Hinata asked in an urgent tone.

"I think he's still sleeping why, what's the problem?"

"I ran into Haku in the village today! I-I think he's going to attack the bridge soon!"

**The Bridge**

Shikimaru was lying back watching the clouds; he was starting to think this body guard thing was better than he originally thought. He just had to sit around and make sure nothing horrible happened. It had been a quiet day, excluding all the construction but he tuned it out and just looked up at the sky. 'hey maybe I'll get lucky and just be one of the Hokage's personal guards, if all I have to do is wait around all day and wait for some fool to show up, if they show up, that wouldn't bother me.'

As Shikimaru continued looking up at the cloud he noticed a mist start to form. But it wasn't a regular mist, this one was filled with chakra in the air and Shikimaru could feel it. 'So much for an easy job'. Shikimaru quickly stood up and looked around. He was too slow to notice the mist rising, it was now near impossible to see.

"Tazuna where are you?" He shouted

"I'm right here. This isn't any ordinary mist is it boy."

"No, I think our little friend is back." Shikimaru began scanning the area. He could hardly see anything. "We need to get you off this bridge as fast as possible. Follow me."

The two started making their way off the bridge but were cut off by a figure. "So I see your back." Shikimaru stated to the figure. He did a good job hiding the fear that was rushing though his body. The figure stepped closer revealing Shikimaru's thoughts that it was Haku. He had his blue coat on minus the mask this time.

Three senbon needles were then throw towards vital spots at Shikimaru, he was able to dodge these quickly. He then spoke in a quieter voice to Tazuna. "You better take a few steps back, this is going to be a little dangerous" Shikimaru then set his sights on Haku again. He scanned his surroundings, 'There's too much fog for me to make my shadows.' He had to stall for time, hoping his team arrived soon.

"So did you ever find out your purpose?"

Haku stared at him with a black expression, no emotion in his eyes. "Yes and right now you are in the way of my purpose. I don't wish to kill you but if you continue to be in my way I will have no choice."

"Well call me a buzzkill but I'm not going anywhere" Shikimaru quickly threw three kunai at Haku. He quickly dodged them but was surprised to see that attacked to them were explosive tags. Haku quickly performed an ice jutsu to shield himself from the blast. During that time Shikimaru had thrown a flare near Haku's position. Shikimaru had thought yesterday that this would come in handy after the fight with Zabuza seeing his Hidden Mist jutsu left Shikimaru helpless last time. The flare gave Shikimaru the shadow to capture Haku in his Shadow Possession Jutsu.

"Well looks like I've got you now."

"But for how long will that flare continue to burn?" Shikimaru knew he was right the flare would only last a couple of minutes, and his possession jutsu probably wouldn't last even as long.

"He's right, Tazuna you need to get off this bridge now and go tell the others"

"Ok, but you be safe kid" Tazuna quickly started running to safety and to get help.

A couple of minutes had passed and Shikimaru was racking his brain trying to find a strategy but he didn't have any where he would win unless his team showed up. He took inventory, 4 more kunai, 20 shurikan, 20 feet in wire, 2 flash bombs and one psychotic rogue nin. 'Add it all up and I'm screwed.' The shadow possession wore off at that moment. Haku then lunged upward and began spraying the ground with needles.

Shikimaru was covered with senbon sticking all over his body, but nothing vital was hit, he counted that as lucky.

"It seems that you have survived." Haku said monotone with no care in his voice what's so ever. Shikimaru could barely move. He was on his hands and knees. There must have been over fifty needles in him, If this guy just left him alone there was no guarantee he would survive.

"It hurts me to do this, but as I said. You are standing in the way of my purpose, and I must not fail." Haku holding three senbon in between his fingers pulled back and was pulling back his arm to launch them at Shikimaru for the final blow.

"Partial Expansion Jutsu! Arm!" was roared out as a giant hand came crashing down towards Haku. Haku barely ducked out of the giant arm that left a small creator in the ground where he was standing.

"No one hurts my friends" Shikimaru looked behind him and was gladly shocked to see that his childhood best friend Choji was here and had saved his life. Standing next to Choji was Sakura, Shino and Kurenai sensei.

"I guess Asuma's back up request did go through after all" muttered Shikimaru as he collapsed to the ground from loss of blood.

"Sakura how bad is it" Asked Kurenai as Choji and Shino stood in front of the two female and the fallen Shikimaru.

"He's lost a lot of blood. We need to get him medical help fast"

"Ok you and Choji take him to the Village." Choji gently picked up Shikimaru, the three quickly got out of the battle zone to get Shikimaru some medical help. "Shino you're with me." Kurenai was staring daggers at the boy in the blue coat. 'where the hell are Asuma and the rest of Team 10?' She thought to herself.

"I don't wish to harm any of you, but if you stand in my way I won't be responsible for my actions."

"That's fine with me. I will be completely responsible for what happens to you though." Kurenai said with anger and killing intent. At that Shino launched a cloud of his insects at Haku. Haku froze the area that the bugs were in swiftly killing all of them. Kurenai started the hand signs for a genjutsu but was interrupted by a flurry of senbon needles coming right at her. Haku now disappeared into the mist.

"I saw your hand signs for a genjutsu. One of the many things my master taught me was that this mist is a great defense for such a thing."

Kurenai and Shino both were worried. Neither of their specialties matched up well against this foe. Shino had managed to get a couple of his insects on Haku but Haku had frozen them off quickly. And Kurenai's genjutsu would only work on someone that could see, but this mist covered the majority of their sight.

Senbon needles continued to come at the two from various angles. The two were struck multiple times. Shino more than Kurenai. The jonin was a little quicker at dodging the attacks.

"I see this is taking longer than I originally intended, I will have to use my kekkei Genkai." Kurenai and Shino were now growing in fear. They were fighting blind and now against a foe with a hidden trick up his sleeve.

"Ice Release Swallow Snow Storm" Haku said still in his mono tone voice. Ice started to form around them into small needles that resembled the shape of swallows. The Ice needles began to swirl around Shino and Kurenai quickly it looked as though they were in the middle of a blizzard. Suddenly all of the small bird like needles changed direction toward the two leaf ninja. Kurenai cried out in pain from the hundreds of tiny needles piercing her and Shino. Shino moaned in pain. Once the barrage of attacks ended the two fell to the ground. The needles were too small to do any major harm but both Kurenai and Shino were cut up horribly.

"I am sorry for what I have done. But you stood in my way." Haku said with a small amount of sympathy for the two fallen ninja in front of him. He readied three needles in each hand looking to finish his opponents. He launched the needles closing his eyes not wanting to see what he had done. When he looked back his mouth dropped open and he finally started to feel what he had done. He looked and was shocked to see the women covering the boy. Kurenai had jumped in front of Shino to protect him from the attack and sacrifice herself for her student.

Seeing this Haku thought to himself 'She sacrificed herself for someone precious to her.'

Upon this moment Asuma, Hinata and Naruto arrived.

"Kurenai!" Asuma yelled worriedly. He rushed over to her and Shino. He could see that both were cut up pretty bad. Shino looked like his injuries were minor but he was in no shape to battle. Kurenai on the other hand had three needles deeply punctured into her back. Asuma began to pull them out and hold Kurenai.

"Kurenai are you alright?" He asked softly

"You think some needles can take me out?" She said with a grin. But Asuma noticed some blood dripping from her mouth. She must have had a lung punctured by one of the needles. She would need help soon but right now Asuma knew that if this kid was able to take down a jonin like Kurenai he would need any help he had. That didn't mean he wanted it though.

"Naruto, Hinata I want you two to take Kurenai and Shino back to Tazuna's house."

"But Sensei!" Naruto objected

"No buts! I can handle myself you two get those two to safety, while I fight this guy." He was staring furiously at Haku.

Just as Hinata and Naruto were about to pick the two fallen comrades up Sakura and Choji appeared.

"We can take care of them; you two help your sensei." Sakura said while Choji was next to tears seeing how bad of shape his sensei and teammate were in. Team 8 quickly disappeared into the mist the direction of town.

"No I want all of you out of here!" Asuma yelled at the genin "This guy is too dangerous, you saw what he did to Kurenai. I can't put you guys in danger like this"

"I'm sorry but I can't do that sensei." Naruto stated defiantly "You remember what you taught us that first day? You told us that the Will of Fire meant to put others of the leaf before ourselves. And last I checked your still one of the leaf."

"H-He's right sensei." Hinata chimed in

"finally the one I wanted to see is here" Haku said looking in the direction of Asuma, Naruto, and Hinata.

Asuma turned to his genin "Fine but we need to be careful this guy is on a different level." He then turned to Haku "Yea and my fist have been dying to meet you"

Haku took that as a jab at his former master Zabuza and furiously threw senbon at Asuma. Asuma quickly dodged and started forming hand signs.

"Wind Style Great Break Through!" A giant gust of wind blew towards Haku as he was blown back a bit along with all the mist on that side of the bridge. Haku quickly regained his footing and began throwing needles towards the three leaf ninjas, while at the same time form hand signs with only one hand.

"Ice Release, Ice Spears" Giant spears began to form all around the three as they jumped to avoid being impaled by the giant spears. Naruto and Hinata landed a little further back than Asuma who was now going on the attack, slashing at Haku with his chakra blades. He managed to cut Haku's large coat a couple of time but was not able to land a solid blow onto him.

As Haku dodged he began more hand signs. "Ice Release Giant Ice dome" A giant dome of Ice quickly formed around the two. Hinata and Naruto were stuck on the outside. They were amazed at just how large the Ice dome was. It covered a large section of the bridge from side to side completely dividing the bridge and must have been easily fifty feet high in the air.

Hinata activated her Byakugon and started scanning the inside of the giant ice dome and relaying what she saw to Naruto. Both of them felt helpless now. All they could do was watch their sensei fight a death battle with this Haku guy that seemed to have stalked them for the past two days.

Inside the dome Asuma was calmer than Haku had expected, It almost looked like he was glad that the two of them were trapped in a cage and was ready to duke it out.

"You are the reason why my last couples of days have been nothing but chaos." Haku stated with no emotion.

"If its revenge you want comes get some" Asuma started motioning Haku to come at him.

"I'm not the one who wants revenge." Asuma continued to stare down his opponent a little curious by his remark.

"I simply want to fulfil my purpose, but I could see that you cared for that woman that was injured out there." At this Asuma stiffened "And I also would assume that you want to get revenge for your student. He was very clever but his technique was no match for me."

"Ok I've heard enough out of you, are we gonna fight or bicker like two old women" Asuma now getting annoyed

"What would you do to save the life to someone precious to you?"

"I'm about to show you right now, Fire release Ash Pile burning" Asuma began to blow a powder like substance into the air. Haku tried to dodge but inside the dome the movement was limited. Asuma quickly clamped his teeth together as the smoke turned into a fireball and engulfed the area. Asuma smirked to himself

"Gotcha" he whispered to himself. As the smoke disappeared so did Asuma's smirk. Haku was gone; Asuma knew that that technique didn't have the power to completely incinerate someone. He franticly scanned the dome. He heard muffled voices coming from the outside.

Outside the dome Hinata could still see both chakra signatures and was trying to tell Asuma to turn around.

Inside the dome Asuma was struck along his back with needles. His chunin vest was able to absorb a lot of the damage but his legs and arms were struck as well. He groaned out with pain but continued standing. He turned around and saw that half of Haku's coat and body had been damaged by his fire attack from before.

"How did you dodge my attack?"

"Because of my kekkei genkai I can become one with the ice. Your fire style counters this though and still damaged me, just to a lesser extent.

Outside the dome Naruto and Hinata were growing more and more impatient. They were seeing their sensei fight alone and wanted to help him more than anything. It was killing them seeing him fighting trapped inside this dome.

"Naruto-kun, I have an idea step back" Hinata said in a stern voice that Naruto wasn't a costumed to. He proceeded to take a couple of steps away. "Phoenix Fire Ball Jutsu" Hinata then blew out six fireballs at the dome. The iced melted a little but it wasn't enough to break through.

"Dammit, that was good thinking though Hinata-Chan. If only it was a little stronger."

Inside the dome Haku and Asuma continued their battle. Asuma was chasing after the boy slashing at him with his chakra blades. He was making progress now, getting some cuts on Haku by extending his chakra into the blade to make it slightly longer. Haku tried to keep at a distance from the much larger man but was surprised by the man's quickness. He was outmatched physically. Asuma was much stronger than and almost just as fast as Haku. He hadn't been expecting this kind of speed from his opponent.

"It is looking like I will have to use my hidden jutsu." Asuma was a little surprised that this kid still had more jutsu to pull out. He wondered just how many jutsu this boy had mastered and just how good of a teacher Zabuza was. 'It's a shame Zabuza would have made for a good jonin instructor if he wasn't so sadistic. He would probably gotten along well with Ibiki or Anko'

'Hidden Ice Release Crystal Ice Mirrors" Haku announced his jutsu. As he did large mirrors of ice began to form around Asuma.

"This is my strongest jutsu. Give up now or I will be forced to kill you"

Asuma wasn't about to back down a time soon as he stood in the middle of all the ice mirrors keeping his guard up.

"I see… then I have no choice." Needles began showering in on Asuma from all directions. There was no way of dodging them. They came from every mirror at ridiculously fast speeds.

Outside Hinata was watching this. "Asuma sensei is in real trouble we need to help him quick!"

"yea but how, your fireballs aren't strong enough to break through."

"Naruto-Kun do you remember when we fought Zabuza at the lake?" Naruto looked at Hinata

"You mean when we both fired at him and our jutsu combine?"

"Yes, I asked sensei about it and he told me that wind enhances fire jutsu. If we combine our jutsu it might be enough to break through."

"It's worth a shot" The two lined up and started forming the hand signs.

Inside the dome Asuma was on a knee with needles sticking out all around him. It was impressive that he had not been defeated yet.

"Why do you continue to fight? I have you trapped; there is no escape for you." Haku stated bluntly.

Asuma cracked a small smirk with blood running down from the sides of his mouth. "I just want to kick your ass. That's all the motivation I need." Asuma then stood up and took a pose with one of his arms strait in the air and the other hand vertically pointing up in front of his chest.

"Welcoming Approach: Thousand Armed Murder" A golden aura surrounded Asuma. What appeared to be spiritual arms began swinging all around him. The fist just kept swinging in every direction until every mirror was shattered.

As this was happening Naruto and Hinata had managed to finally break the Ice dome combining their jutsu and managed to see Asuma break all the crystal ice mirrors. Asuma then fell to his knees coughing up small amounts of blood. The effects of all those needles were taking its toll on him. Hinata and Naruto both rushed over to help their sensei but he waved them off and managed to get one foot under him.

Haku was picking himself up. He didn't look much better than Asuma. Half of his coat was burned off with some scorch marks on his body as well, his coat had cuts all over it along with two cuts to his harm and chest, and his body was covered with bruising from that last attack. Both men looked like they had been through a war. Haku however was still able to stand fine while Asuma was having trouble breathing at the moment.

"What that all you got kid?" Asuma said as he spit blood to the side. Hinata was a little grossed out by that and tried not to look at her sensei.

Haku just stood there calmly, for the first time in the battle he actually cracked a smile. "Now I can fulfill my purpose"

"And what is that!" Naruto barked out angrily.

**Tazuna's House**

The place was starting to look more like a hospital than a house at this point. The village couldn't afford to have a hospital because of the rough economy that Gato had forced upon them and the closest place to an actual hospital was half a day's travel away. Kurenai, Shikimaru and Shino were all being patched up as best Tsunami and Tazuna knew. Tsunami had some first aid practice with her last husband being a fisherman he was always cutting himself with hooks and lures and other odd injuries in a fisherman's career. But this was worse. Kurenai and Shino both had cuts covering the majority of their bodies but Kurenai had a couple deep puncture wounds. Shikimaru was in a little better condition but was resting. Choji had food pills that he had brought and those were helping a lot.

Sakura was starting to feel like she wasn't really contributing much. All she had done was carry people to and from places. Sure she was tired from all the running but she still felt like she should do more. She looked out the window and saw that the bridge was visible now. The majority of the mist was gone. She wondered how the others were doing out there. She hoped they were all safe. Especially Naruto for some reason that confused her. As she continued to look out she saw a giant explosion. The ice dome had collapsed and there was a golden aura appearing. She decided she couldn't take it anymore and ran out the door ignoring Choji asking what she was doing.

**The Bridge**

Haku took a step back a melted into one of the giant shards of ice that was from the remnants of the ice dome. Naruto and Hinata looked at it confusingly, Asuma had already seen this trick and knew that Haku could teleport between the Ice.

"Be Care" Asuma started but was thrown away by a giant chunk of ice. Asuma was now pinned underneath the giant piece of ice. He was just barely conscious. He saw Naruto and Hinata running to him but behind them was Haku.

"Crystal Ice Mirrors" suddenly Naruto and Hinata were in the middle of multiple giant mirrors. Naruto quickly tried to get out and run to Asuma but Haku was too quick and sprayed the blond with needles.

Hinata quickly ran to Naruto's side. "Naruto-kun are you alright?" She asked worriedly

"Yea I'm fine, but what does this guy want?" An image of Haku then appeared on every mirror.

"Naruto, you told me that you didn't know what it was like to lose someone you loved because you never had a family. And because you never loved someone, you grew up without anyone, you were alone like I was, and am now. Because of all this you don't know what love is" Naruto and Hinata looked at the mirrors, their faces filled with confusion.

Naruto had anger along with his confusion, first the guy beat up his teammate, then he beat Kurenai sensei and his classmate Shino, then he ripped Asuma apart and to top it all off he has him trapped in a cage of ice mirrors.

Hinata's face was more filled with fear and sadness. At hearing Haku talk about Naruto not know what it was like to be loved. It pained her a little; she stated to think that maybe telling Naruto how she felt would better for him. At least then he would know someone cares about him.

"Yea and what's your point?" Naruto yelled at him

"My point is that when Master Zabuza died he cared for me. I felt loved…"

"Then why are you doing all this?"

"Master Zabuza told me that you see what a person is really like when they die. And the one moment in my life that I felt loved was when that person closest to me died."

Naruto's anger had left at this. "So tell me why you are doing all this"

Haku now talking out of tone with a little happiness in his voice "Don't you get it? For you to feel love the closest person in your life must die…" Naruto and Hinata's faces were covered in fear at the boy's sadistic remark. 'He's gone completely crazy' thought Naruto.

"So now you must pick Naruto who is it that is most precious to you? Your sensei or this girl? At the mention of the girl a new image appeared on half of the mirrors. It was the picture of Naruto holding Hinata and carrying her in after the tree climbing exercise.

Hinata couldn't help but get a small blush at the picture, but she was still terrified at the threat that Haku had made.

Naruto didn't know what was going on. This guy was threatening to kill his sensei and his first friend Hinata. He never thought about who he would save first in a life or death incident.

"You must choose now Naruto!" Haku now made it so that there was an opening to Asuma, while simultaneously shoving Hinata away with another giant shard of ice. Hinata was now pinned from the waist down between two giant shards of ice. All but one of the mirrors now melted away, Haku was leaning out of the last one that was just off the ground. He readied his arms, three senbon in each hand crossed over in front of him as he now stepped out onto the ground.

Naruto's mind was racing; this was all happening so fast. He thought about how Hinata had come up to him after he failed the exam and told him he would be a great ninja one day, he thought about how she cared for his wound earlier in the mission and fixed him up, he thought about how they did the tree climbing together and he carried her back to Tazuna's house. But he also thought about how Asuma had taken him shopping that one day, told him things about what to look for when a girl might like you, how he took him out for ramen a couple of times, how Asuma had taught him new jutsu and wanted to see his dream of being Hokage come true. It was tearing him apart.

"Fine, If you won't pick you'll just lose both of them!" Haku yelled with laughter. Haku began the throwing motion when suddenly he felt a piercing pain in his back. The senbon needles all dropped to the ground. Haku turned his head slightly and saw a pink haired girl holding a kunai that was in bedded a solid two inches in his upper back.

Sakura had arrived just in time to stop Haku from going through with his plan. She was staring at the kunai and saw the blood starting to drip onto her hands. She felt sick at the moment seeing someone else's blood on her hands. She backed away still looking at her hands horrifyingly.

Haku then turned around to the pink haired kuniochi. "It's ok. I got the answer to my question. But I'll be back to fulfill my purpose one day." After that Haku started limping towards the unfinished edge of the bridge. A bridge of ice formed a small pathway to the other end at the mainland and slowly melted away once Haku was on the other side. Haku turned around once more and looked at the group of leaf ninja. 'You will feel true love one day Naruto Uzumaki. It is my purpose. Oh and believe it'

Sakura was finally able to calm herself down once Haku was out of sight. She turned and saw Asuma still trapped under a huge slab of ice that was quickly melting now. She then turned and was struck by the sight she was seeing. Naruto was holding Hinata tightly covering her and crying deeply into her shoulder.

"I just couldn't lose you." He squeaked out thinking his sensei was dead.

**END**

**A/N: OK GUY AND GALS I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER! PLEASE COMMENT ON WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS CHAPTER, I WAS SUPPER CLOSE TO KILLING OF KURENAI, TELL ME IF YOU THINK I MADE THE RIGHT DECISSION OR NOT. I WAS ALSO REALLY ON THE FENCE FOR WHICH TEAM WAS GOING TO COME IN FOR BACK UP, MAINLY FOR TEAM 7 I JUST WANTED THE PART WHERE CHOJI SAVED SHIKIMARU TO START OUT "FANG OVER FANG!" BUT FIGURED THEY WOULDN'T ADD TOO MUCH TO THE PLOT, AND KAKASHI WOULD HAVE DONE BETTER AGAINST HAKU. BUT ANYWAY IM GETTING CARRIED AWAY, PLS REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU LIKED AND DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THE CHAPTER AND WHAT YOU'D LIKE TO SEE IN FUTURE ONES!**


	6. Chapter 6: Girl Troubles

**Chapter 6: Girl Troubles**

**The Bridge**

Sakura was staring in shock at what she was seeing. Naruto was holding Hinata tightly as he cried into her shoulder. His left arm and part of his back still had needles sticking in him but he didn't care. All of his thinking process went out the window when Haku made him pick between Asuma and Hinata. He still thought Asuma was dead at this point at the hands of Haku.

"N-Naruto-kun… Why?" Hinata whispered in a voice that was soft but filled with gratitude and confusion.

Naruto sniffled a little as tears kept streaming down his face. "I… I just couldn't lose you" He managed to choke out. Naruto tightened his hold around Hinata, he didn't want to let her go, not now, not ever.

Hinata now started to tear up as she wrapped her arms around Naruto. The two held each other for what seemed like an eternity to them. Naruto's breathing started to slow down. It was matching that of Hinata's.

Sakura couldn't watch anymore. She turned her focus back to Asuma sensei who was lying on his stomach with his face looking at his two genin embracing each other. He couldn't think strait right now; the world was still spinning from the blow he took of a giant chunk of ice slamming him. Sakura rushed over to help the beaten man.

"Asuma sensei are you alright?" She asked

He coughed up some blood "It's gonna take more than some needles to keep me down." He cracked a small grin while having a small trickle of blood going down from his mouth and another from a cut on his forehead.

Upon hearing their sensei's voice Naruto and Hinata quickly let go of their holds on one another and ran over to him. Sakura was already removing the senbon from his body. He was peppered all over with them, cuts, and bruises from the fight.

"Sensei you're alive!" Naruto exclaimed relieved. He and Hinata were so happy to see Asuma still alive.

"We thought y-you..." Hinata started

"You guys couldn't get rid of me even if you wanted to" Asuma joked to try and easy the tension. "What happened to Haku did you guys beat him?" Everyone turned their attention to Sakura

"I was able to stab him in the back with my kunai" Sakura said as she looked down at her hands still covered in his blood. "But he just turned around and said he got the answer to his question and left."

"Well hopefully he stays gone." Asuma replied "Now let's get back to Tazuna's house to check on the others."

Sakura and Naruto helped pick up the jonin that had basically gone through a two man war. They carried him back to Tazuna's where Tsunami quickly got to work on him. Closing up as many of the wounds as quickly as possible. Inside Shikamaru, Shino, and Kurenai were all resting after their fights. Everyone was glad that everyone survived, that was the important thing. But there was still the unease of Haku possibly returning to finish them off.

**Elsewhere**

Haku was traveling a pathway; his cloths were burned and ripped to shreds. He had blood soaked in all around him. He sat down under a tree and started to fix himself up. He did the best first aid work he could, there weren't any life threatening injuries but he was very low on chakra and would need to rest. He fell asleep under the tree for a couple hours. He was awoken by two men that had walked up to him. The men were in black cloaks with red clouds on them and high collars. Haku just looked at them wondering if they were here to kill him.

"What is your name?" The one on the right asked. He had orange hair and very pale skin with piercings in his nose and ears.

"Haku"

The two men shared a look then turned back to Haku. "Good you're the one we've been looking for." Haku looked at them serious thinking they must have been leaf shinobi sent to assassinate him. As Haku studied them he saw the other one with dark hair had on a leaf head band but had a slash through it. "We're here to offer you something." The orange haired one spoke up again.

"What could you possibly have to offer me?"

The dark haired one stared right into Haku's eyes "A purpose"

**Tazuna's house The Next Day**

Shino, Asuma, and Kurenai were all still resting and Shikamaru wasn't anywhere close to fighting condition anytime soon. This meant that the group was still stuck in a four man squad for the most part. They decided that they would watch the bridge in pairs, not letting what happened to Shikamaru happen to them.

Choji and Sakura took the first shift from the morning until noon. It was pretty uneventful, they mainly just sat around waiting, and Choji had offered to help pick up some of the needles that still lay on the bridge. He was angry picking them up seeing blood on some of them and knowing it was the blood of his friends.

The next shift was Hinata and Naruto. They both were sitting there quietly not knowing what to say to the other. As they scanned over the bridge they could still notice some blood stains in spots. Choji tried to clean as much of it as he could but it had set in the night prior. After a bit of time passed finally the silence was broken.

"N-Naruto-Kun." Hinata spoke up. Naruto turned to her with a curious expression. "Yesterday. W-why did you"

"I don't know" Naruto interrupted. He started looking down. He felt a little bad that he had chosen to abandon his sensei. "Something just forced my body to move in that moment. I don't know what it was but something in me just made me have to save you." Neither one knew what that meant. Hinata thought back to the day before, she had always wanted Naruto to hold her close and tightly, but she never imagined it would have been because of something like that. She didn't know if it was a sign that he might have feelings for her but she couldn't think of another reason.

Hinata then reached her hand over and placed it on Naruto's "Thank y-you Naruto-kun" She spoke softly with a small smile. Naruto grinned a little. At that moment Inari came onto the bridge to talk to Tazuna, but before he got to Tazuna he stopped and saw the scene of the two leaf ninja holding hands. He thought to himself 'Man if mom saw this she would use an entire camera roll'

"Hey are you two dating now or something!" Inari yelled out at them. Both Naruto and Hinata quickly pulled their hands away and started to blush. Hinata looked the other way of Naruto thinking about what just happened.

"No you little brat! We were just…" Naruto didn't really know what it was that they were doing. He had never held hands with someone before. He didn't really know if it was something that friends do.

"Oh really looked like a lot more than that to me!" Inari said in a teasing tone

Both Naruto and Hinata blushed even more. "That's it I'm going to show you!" Naruto yelled as he got up to chase Inari around. Hinata was still blushing thinking about what the younger boy had said and that she had just been holding Naruto's hand. She thought maybe this mission was starting to seem better to her than most. She smiled as she watch the two boys run around, Inari was surprisingly fast for someone his age and was managing to avoid getting caught by Naruto for a while.

After a little while of cat and mouse Naruto was finally able to chase Inari down and tackle him. Naruto sat on Inari's back with one leg on each side holding him down.

"Yea I bet you don't talk as much when you're pinned down huh." Naruto stated to the younger boy.

"Yea right! Aren't you the one who said never give up." Naruto grew a small smile at that and started ruffing the boy's hair. His smile left soon after once Inari started a little chant. "Naruto and Hinata sitting in a tree K, I, S, S, I, N, and G"

Hinata was starting to blush beat red at this. 'Did we really look like a couple?' '**HELL YEA WE DID!**' her inner voice answered her question. Naruto was blushing a little too but was quickly trying to shut up the little kid that was teasing them.

"What are you even doing out here Inari?" Naruto asked him finally letting the boy up.

"I'm here to ask my grandpa what he wants for dinner tonight."

"Do you guys have ramen?" Naruto asked eagerly

"What's ramen?" Inari asked with a genuinely confused look. Naruto had a deadpan expression on his face at that.

"You don't know what ramen is!" Naruto exclaimed he then went into a very detailed explanation of every detail of his favorite meal from Ichiraku. After Naruto's long winded description of ramen Inari started heading off towards Tazuna but before he left he had to get in one more shot.

"First comes love" Hinata began blushing again, "Then comes marriage" Hinata turned beat red 'Oh god I've dreamed of that for as long as I can remember' she thought anxiously to herself "Then comes a baby in the baby carriage" '**DON'T DO IT! COMEON YOU CAN MAKE IT**' Hinata then suddenly fainted and fell off her seat and was passed out on the ground.

"Oh no Hinata-Chan" Naruto exclaimed rushing over to help her "Dammit look what you did now Inari!" Inari just giggled to himself as he ran away. Naruto was quickly by her side picking Hinata up a little. He checked her head to make sure she wasn't bleeding or injured. He then looked at her face. 'Wow she looks so peaceful. Her soft smooth skin that blush on her cheeks and her lips wait what am I thinking? This is Hinata, my teammate, my friend, and the person I would…do anything to protect…' Naruto was confused as to why he thought this was about her. 'Sure she was nice looking and kind but, well I can't really see why I shouldn't.' His focus again drifted to her face. 'Do I really like her like that?'

Naruto picked her up and set her up against the stack of wood they had been sitting on earlier. He sat down next to her then, the sat like that for a few minutes until Hinata moved a little closer to Naruto and rested her head on his shoulder. A fun fact about Hinata and her inner voice; whenever Hinata loses consciousness her inner alter personality gets a little more say in how she acts, her sister Hannabi had told Hinata that she talks in her sleep but never realized to what extent. As Hinata's alter ego took more control she positioned Hinata so she was full out snuggling up to Naruto.

Naruto started blushing bright red and was sweating bullets at this, he had never be in a situation like this. He never had a mother or father that would hold him when he was younger and he never had a girl burry her face into his shoulder and have her arms wrapped around him. He kind of liked it and he wasn't sure if he liked Hinata like that yet, but he wasn't planning on waking her anytime soon.

Unbeknown to Naruto, Sakura and Choji weren't that far away, they had come to bring Naruto and Hinata a snack but saw Hinata with her arms around Naruto and head resting on his shoulder, they were unaware that she was asleep and thought Hinata had finally told Naruto how she felt. Choji was ecstatic as he barely managed to hold back a furious Sakura who had murder screaming in her eyes.

"What do they think they're doing! Were on a mission, and that totally breaks the code of conduct rule 13.24!" Sakura yelled flailing her arms with her hands gripped in fists. Choji was not about to let Sakura get in the way of his bet that he, and the rest of the genin along with a few others were involved in, if Naruto did realize how Hinata felt within the next two weeks Choji would be the winner.

"Come on Sakura why do you want to mess with them anyways?" Choji asked as he was still holding Sakura back.

"Because, because I don't think they're right together." Sakura relied now calming down a bit. She didn't want to be mean but she still didn't want Naruto with another girl. She had tried to brush yesterday off as just an impulse decision that Naruto must have made and figured if she was Naruto's teammate he would have picked her as well.

"And why don't you think they are?" asked Choji

"Hinata is really quiet, gloomy, weird, and always seems depressed." She listed off quickly "While Naruto has clearly gotten stronger; he's always funny, loud and out going." She said staring up with a twinkle in her eye, holding her hands together.

"Isn't Sasuke kinda like that with the whole gloomy and depressed thing" Choji responded

**That moment in Konoha**

"Aaachooo!"

"Dammit Sasuke you sneezed all over Akumaru!"

"If you would get that damn dog groomed once in a while maybe I wouldn't have this problem!"

"Maybe if you took that stick out of your!" Kiba started

"Kiba!" Ino interrupted "Don't be mean to Sasuke-kun, he should be in a good mood me and him have plans tonight. Isn't that right Sasuke-kun." As she leaned over Sasuke

"Ino, I'm going to say this as nicely as possible. I will not nor ever will go on a date with someone as annoying as you!"

"Sasuke-kun don't say such things. And stop with the act we all know you like me" Ino said as she struck a pose.

"Wow Ino, how is it you got the highest grades on the written part of the exams when you don't even understand English?" Kiba asked mockingly

"Listen here dog boy! Just because you're jealous of what me and Sasuke-kun have doesn't mean you get to be mean!" Ino retorted furiously at Kiba

"Oh my god you are all such losers!" Sasuke commented

"Hey!" Both Ino and Kiba yelled in unison. The three continued to argue as Kakashi stood about ten feet from them. 'These kids are going to make my hair turn grey, oh would you look at that, now I have and excuse. I wonder if they would notice if I just left and ended practice early.'

**The Bridge**

Naruto had finally started to calm down and relax a bit being Hinata's personal pillow. He was actually kind of enjoying it, and figured she wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon so he rested his right arm along her side.

A few moments later Inari came running by them again "Oh how sweet Naruto and his girlfriend Hinata" he said in a teasing voice

"She's not my girlfriend!" Naruto retorted. At the sudden loud sound Hinata moved a little. But it wasn't away, Naruto froze not wanting to wake his friend up, but it seemed she was getting even more comfortable as one of her legs draped across one of Naruto's and her whole body twisted, her face was now up against his.

Inari started laughing seeing how nervous Naruto was at the sleeping girl sprawling herself out upon him and continued back to his home. Along the way he saw Sakura and Choji arguing about something so he figured he would go see what's up.

"That's it Choji! I gotta do something!"

"Why do you have to do anything?"

"Because, because… I just don't know…"Sakura mumbled as the fury left her eyes and was replaced with sadness. Inari hadn't let his presence be known to the genin yet as he just hid behind a tree eavesdropping on the private conversation.

"Sakura is there something you want to tell me?" Choji asked concerned

"It's just that… I think I might possible like Naruto" Both Choji and Inari's jaws dropped at the statement the pretty pink haired girl made.

"But, I thought you had a major crush a Sasuke and Naruto had a crush on you while at the academy but you were always mean and turned him down."

"I wasn't mean." She defended herself "Was I? It's just that at the time I liked Sasuke and figured Naruto was always in the way, but now with him gone all the time this is basically the first time I've seen him since the team selection day. And I don't know."

Inari ran back to the house not sure what exactly to do with this knowledge. Inari thought both girls were nice. Hinata was the only one of the leaf ninja he talked to before Naruto set him straight, but Sakura really seemed like she liked Naruto but didn't have the courage to tell him. The same could be said for Hinata too, well her conscious being that is.

Choji and Sakura were both standing silently as they tried to digest what Sakura had just confessed to Choji. "Is there any way you could like let Naruto and Hinata do their thing for the next two weeks then you go after him?" Choji asked doubtful of agreement. Sakura's mood quickly changed as she sent Choji flying in the air with a super power uppercut.

"I'm not going to let your stupid little bet get in my way Choji!" She yelled with fire in her eyes. And Choji laying down seeing stars.

A couple more hours passed and consciousness was starting to come back to Hinata. She still had her eyes shut and took in a large breath through her nose. She felt warm and comfy but didn't think about why. Her chin was in some kind of a little nook, her arms felt a little numb, her legs were intertwined in something, and she could feel something very warm touching one side of her face. It was hot almost. 'That smell is so nice, it smells like the sea, some grass, and tree leaves, and wait ramen! Hinata opened her eyes and leaned up a little. She was on top of Naruto with her arms around him and her legs wrapped around his.

"Eeep!" Hinata let out as she got off of a dark red blushing Naruto.

"You're kind of an active sleeper…" Naruto sputtered now sitting up still blushing a lot and scratching the back of his head nervously.

Hinata was turned away too embarrassed to look at the boy she had just basically attacked with her body in her sleep. 'Oh god, maybe he still doesn't know' '**OH HE BETTER KNOW! I THREW IN SOME SLEEP TALKING TOO WHILE I WAS AT IT**' 'You what!?' '**JUST SOME "OH NARUTO'S" NOTHING TOO REVEALING' **'I will never forgive you for this!'

"Aaaaa Sorry Hinata-Chan I didn't mean for that to happen I just didn't want to wake you."

"No, I am the one who is sorry. I should have had more control, I'm sorry to have put you through that." '**LIAR, YOU LOVED IT**'

"Oh don't worry bout that, it was actually kinda nice" Naruto said nervously again, he was going to start pulling hair's out the back of his head if he scratched it anymore. Hinata went wide eyed at that for a second. 'He. Liked. It.' '**YOU OWE ME BIG TIME**' "Well we should probably get going back to Tazuna's. It's going to be time for dinner soon." Naruto mentioned as the two got up and walked off the bridge.

A couple days had passed for the most part they were uneventful. Choji was constantly trying to set up moments though out the week so that Naruto and Hinata would be alone. Every time Sakura found out about one of these attempts she would do her best to sabotage it. Sakura would take Hinata's seat at dinner if she ever was sitting next to Naruto, or she would set up a gen'jutsu if the two were training in the forest for what Sakura thought was too long. Hinata eventually caught on to this and was wondering why the pink haired girl was trying to keep her and Naruto apart so much, but she didn't want to cause any trouble and just let it go. 'For now anyways' Hinata thought to herself.

It was the last night that the two teams would be out on the mission. The bridge was completed earlier today and Tazuna felt like having a small celebration. He had ordered a lot of nice food for the two teams and his family to enjoy. Choji was a little more thankful than the others for the food.

Everyone was having a great time, Naruto sat next to Hinata, and Inari also sat next to Naruto and continued teasing him and Hinata. Sakura tried her best to get in between the two but Choji and Shikamaru worked together and with a little shadow possession jutsu Sakura behaved, much disappointment to her. Asuma and Kurenai talked with Tsunami and Tazuna the majority of the night and Shino, well he was there. Naruto thought Shino was being extra quiet because of one of the days Shino found Inari killing his insects with a magnifying glass and probably held something against the younger boy.

Later that night after dinner and the games, everyone went to bed except Asuma who insisted on still keeping lookout tonight just to be safe. A little later Naruto was turning in his bed. He had a lot on his mind and needed to go clear it. So he went outside onto the porch. Once out side he looked over the narrow sea that separated them from the mainland and the giant bridge that connected it. Inari had said he and Tazuna already came up with a name for the bridge but they were waiting until tomorrow to tell everyone.

As he started to gaze at the bridge the memories of that day played in his head. "_You must choose now Naruto!" _kept ringing in his head with the image of Haku sadistically smiling as he drew back three needles in each hand and was about to kill two of the closest people in Naruto's life.

A figure appeared behind Naruto and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Something bothering you Naruto?" Naruto turned around and saw it was his sensei Asuma standing behind him with a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

"I still can't get over that day" Naruto said starring out at the bridge.

"Anything in particular?"

Naruto looked down shamefully "I just feel bad about when he made me choose between you and Hinata-chan."

"Naruto, you made the right choice protecting Hinata that day, I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself." Asuma said comfortingly

"You nearly died sensei, if Sakura wasn't there I would have be the reason you died."

Asuma took a long drag of his cigarette and began again "Naruto I want you to put yourself back in that moment. Close your eyes" Naruto did as his sensei requested "Now Haku has just told you, that you have to pick between me and Hinata right now or we both die, and what do you do"

"Sensei" Naruto contested not wanting to answer the question again.

"Don't sensei me, what do you do?"

Naruto's face started to crunch up "I… I pick Hinata…" Naruto now opened his eyes and looked at his sensei.

"That Naruto is how you know you made the right decision."

"How can you say letting you die to save her is right?" Naruto yelled louder than he thought.

Asuma took a moment so Naruto could calm down then replied "Naruto what was the very first thing I ever taught you?"

"The Will of Fire" Naruto responded with some confusion on his face.

"And my will of fire means that I would gladly give my life to save any of you three" Naruto looked away not liking hearing his sensei talk like that. "Look at me Naruto" Asuma's voice was now stern and had a hardened expression on his face "If you are ever in a situation like that again where you have to pick between Shikamaru or Hinata and me. If you ever pick me I will never forgive you. I will not allow my comrades to die because of me."

Naruto was left speechless for a while at that. Asuma couldn't have made it anymore clear that he felt that Naruto made the right decision.

"Sensei I have another question for you." Naruto said in a more lightened tone. Asuma just raised his eyebrows. "How do you know if you like a girl?"

Asuma looked at him confused for a little while 'I swear he is the most socially retarded kid I have ever met' "You remember all the tells I told you about a girl liking you?"

"Yea you said if they blush around you a lot, either make a lot of eye contact or they avoid your eyes completely and if they seem to have trouble talking around you."

"Well the same goes for guys"

"Really?"

"Mmhm"

"Then you must really like Kurenai sensei!" Asuma's cigarette fell out of his mouth at this. He coughed to clear his throat.

"What do you mean me and Kurenai are just good friends is all nothing out of the ordinary between us!" Asuma frantically said having sweat drip down "But back to you, why who do you like?"

"I can't tell you sensei" Naruto pouted Asuma looked at him with a twitch in his eye 'Bull Shit you can't tell me! I have money riding on this kid!'

"Naruto as your sensei this is something I need to know so I can make sure you work at your absolute best" He lied.

Naruto made a little pouty face and crossed his arms at his sensei making him do this. At first Naruto mumbled something that Asuma couldn't make out.

"What was that couldn't quite hear you?"

"I said Hinata-Chan" he mumbled

'This is perfect!' Asuma pulled out a piece of paper and saw that at the moment and for at least another week Choji would win the bet they made, then Ino after him. 'For me to win this little bet I need to keep them apart for another three weeks. And that little shit Shikamaru picked the day right after mine. I need to play this very carefully' "Naruto that's great!"

"Really sensei?"

"Yea you give me three weeks to coach you in romance and I can promise you she'll be all yours!"

"No way sensei how?" Asuma went on to give Naruto tips the rest of the night, on the art of getting girls.

The next day the six genin and their two jonin sensei's were about to leave. They were all thanking Tazuna and his family for the mostly fun time they had here. Just before they left Inari ran up to Naruto and whispered something in his ear, smiling. Naruto looked wide eyed and turned to Sakura and Hinata who were standing by one another looking at Naruto trying to figure out which one he was looking at.

"Come on Naruto I want to get home before it gets dark out" complained Shikamaru breaking Naruto's stare Naruto started walking to catch up to the rest and smiled to himself. 'Man I had no idea'

"Grandpa we forgot to tell them what the name of the bridge is!" complained Inari

"Something tells me they'll find out one day" replied Tazuna as the two looked up at the newly engraved name. On it read "**THE GREAT WILL OF FIRE BRIDGE**"

**A/N WELL HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED THE CHAPTER, SORRY IT TOOK LONGER THIS TIME, I HAD IT ¾ OF THE WAY DONE THREE DAYS AGO BUT MY COMPUTER OVERHEATED AND SHUT DOWN DELETING IT. I ENDED UP WRITING A NEW VERSION AND I LIKE IT MORE NOW. PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU LIKED/DIDN'T LIKE IN THE CHAPTER AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN FUTURE CHAPTERS.**


	7. Chapter 7 Teamwork

**A/N: Not a ton of action in this chapter but some setting for the next couple chapters.**

**Chapter 7: Teamwork**

**Hokage's office**

Asuma and Kurenai had just finished giving their report on the mission in the land of waves. They had informed the third Hokage that they believed that Zabuza Momochi one of the seven swordsmen of the mist was dead but they did not have complete confirmation. And they had informed him of this rouge ninja that went by the name of Haku, who had the ability to wield ice style jutsu. The Hokage sat their processing what the two jonin had informed him of.

"I've heard of this style jutsu before, but it was well thought that the clan that possessed this Kekei Genkai was exterminated by those of the mist nearly a decade ago." Stated the third.

"Why would they be targeted by the mist?" asked Kurenai

"Back when the Mist was under the authority of the fourth Mizukage and were referred to by many as the blood mist village they believed that any kekei genkai were an abomination and should be eradicated" Kurenai's eyes widened at this news, she had hear of the rumors surrounding the mist of its older days but this was news to her about the hunting of people with kekei genkai. Asuma continued to stand there silently, he had already hear of all this from his father already.

"If that is all from your reports you may leave" the Hokage spoke out. The two jonin turned to leave. Just as they reached the door the Hokage spoke up again. "Asuma, may I have a word with you?" Kurenai turned to Asuma but he gave her a look indicating for her to go on. Kurenai then left as Asuma walked back to his father's desk.

"Were there any other problems on the mission with your students?" He asked with a more gravely face fearing that Naruto may have had a problem.

"No, Shikamaru was a little beat up but otherwise the fighting was very limited for my students." Asuma replied. The Hokage stood up and walked over to the window looking out upon his village.

"That is good news to hear. It seems that the fourths seal is still working properly"

"Why wouldn't it?" Asuma asked curiously, wondering why he would think the seal wouldn't

"I believe that the fourth made that seal to loosen over time "Asuma looked a little surprised at this.

"Why would he ever do that? What purpose could there be for the seal to ever loosen, that tailed beast has brought us nothing but pain." Asuma stated clenching his fists tightly remembering that day twelve and a half years ago. He had lost many friends and people very close to him. The Hokage had noticed the feeling of rage growing in his son at the memories of long ago.

"Asuma" The Hokage spoke up to gain his sons attention as he took a breath in from his pipe "I was glad that you picked Naruto to be your student. At first I thought Kakashi would be the best for him since Kakashi had such a close relationship with the fourth Hokage and his lover, but I thought you would do a good job at it too." The Hokage was interrupted in the middle of his speech when he went into a coughing attack. Asuma moved over to help his father back to his seat.

"Dad you might want to cut back on the pipe a bit, you know mom never approved of that stuff anyways"

The Hokage finally regained himself and smiled at his son "Yea, I quit for many years when you and your brother were born. Your mother never let me smoke around you too."

"Common dad, we all knew that you still smoked when you were out of the house" Asuma grinned at the old man. The third looked at his son confused. "You always smelled of the stuff whenever you came home, it didn't take a ninja to figure that out"

"Yes I guess your right about that" The old man chuckled but began coughing again. Asuma gave his father a concerned look. He was no longer the strong ninja he once was, and was suffering from the effects of his stressful job. He had come out of retirement when the fourth died. Most of the great ninja of the leaf had died when the nine tails attacked; Orochimaru had left the village and turned out to be a sociopath with all his inhumane test he performed on villagers of the leaf. Jiraiya was away on some path to find the road to peace, and Tsunade had left the village to grieve over the loss of her brother Nawaki, and lover Dan who had died during the third Shinobi war.

Asuma gave his father a serious face "Dad, don't you think it's time to pick a new heir to be Hokage."

"Yes I have given it a lot of thought but there is only two people that would be up to the standard for it right now, and I'm afraid that neither one is in the village at the moment"

Asuma knew exactly who he was talking about. He knew his father wanted either Jiraiya or Tsunade to take over for him when he was done, that or one of their students. All but one of Jiraiya's had passed away and he gave up on teaching fearing to face such a terrible loss again. His lone survivor student had given up on his life as a shinobi many years ago and that was probably the only reason he lived this long. Tsunade only had one student and not much was known about her. She most likely excelled at medical ninjutsu but that is not enough to lead one of the five great ninja villages.

"Hey what if I go find one of them and bring them back here?" Asuma asked, it couldn't hurt, he knew both of them well, and they would come over to the house from time to time for personal training and would have dinner with the family. Orochimaru came over more than the others, most likely because he didn't have anyone to go home to and was obsessed with learning more jutsu from his father.

The Hokage looked up at his son a little taken back that he would offer to do such a difficult mission. He knew that both were hard people to track down. I mean they had learned from the third Hokage himself after all.

"But what about your team, you cannot just neglect your students"

"I'm sure they can go learn from one of the other jonin instructor. Shikamaru has his father and I guess Hinata could still train in her gentle fist with her family and Naruto well, I can find someone to train him." The Hokage contemplated the idea. His son did make good points, and he knew he did need a replacement soon for Hokage. The old man started to cough again; Asuma quickly grabbed his cup of tea and handed it to him.

"Dad please let me do this for you." Asuma beseeched

"Fine you have three weeks; you need to be back here in time for the chunin exams though." Asuma smiled seeing he had won the argument with his father for once.

"Deal I'll be back by the first of the month with at least one of them, who know maybe I'll bring back two and you'll have to pick" He joked knowing it would be next to impossible to do that kind of a thing.

**A few hours later in Konaha**

"No, Absolutely not! Never again with you."

"Awe come on Kakashi, It will just be for a couple weeks."

"Do you have any idea what I've been going through since our last deal?" Kakashi asked looking behind him at the training ground where his three students where all bickering once again. "All they do is argue and fight, I mean sure they have talent but they never stop fighting and you want me to take on your rug rats to boot."

"How's about two weeks, and I buy drinks the next time we go out"

"Ha! I would need a lot more than one night of drinking to repress all the stress these kids cause me." Asuma was seeing he wasn't getting anywhere fast with this discussion, he would need to sweet talk his way through it.

"Fine one week, that's all I ask, then I bet you could trick Guy into taking them with his power of youth crap he's always going on about, and I bet Kurenai would be willing to help out to, she seemed to like the kids when she met them on our last mission"

"Then why don't you just go ask them?"

"Kurenai and her team are already going back out on a mission soon and Guy scares me…" Kakashi sighed at this, Asuma had been there to help Kakashi out in the past and he never asked Kakashi for anything in return all these years.

"Fine." Asuma cheered excitedly at this as Kakashi continued "One week that's it, then I'm passing them off to Guy and Kurenai, and don't blame me if when you come back they all are wearing green jump suits" Asuma had a sickened face at the thought of his students in those disgusting looking things 'All my hard work to make Naruto and Hinata finally have style gone.' He thought frightened at the sight.

"Thanks Kakashi, they will all be here tomorrow, when do you want them to show up?"

"Tell them to be here at six am on the dot" Kakashi smiled to himself under his mask. His smile was short lived as he heard the complaints of his team.

"Kakashi sensei why do you have us get here so early when you don't show up for three hours!" Ino yelled

"Kakashi can you just get to the training already" moaned Sasuke

"Yea me and Akumaru need to get stronger and show Sasuke how weak he really is!" barked Kiba

"I'm not the weak one you loser!"

"Really could have fooled me, aren't you suppose to have special eyes, I haven't even seen them yet"

"Kiba shut up or else" Sasuke said fiercely

"Yea Kiba leave Sasuke-Kun alone!

"What I can't help that he is slow"

"That's it!" Sasuke lunged at Kiba as the two started to roll around wrestling, Soon after Ino and Akamaru jumped in to help.

Kakashi turned back to Asuma "Did I ever mention I really hate you." Asuma scratched the back of his head while putting on a sheepish smile 'I hope my students don't act like this when I get back'

**Training Ground 3 Next Day**

Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru where all waiting at the training ground ten minutes earlier than they were expected to arrive. Asuma had told them all that he had to go on a mission for a couple of week and they would be training under some other jonin in the meantime. Naruto and Shikamaru complained, they had gotten ust to Asuma and liked him. Hinata was a little worried that they would be a burden on their interim sensei and would annoy the others by taking away their time from their sensei.

A half hour passed and still no one was there. Shikamaru finally spoke up "Man this is such a drag where are they"

"Maybe Asuma sensei told us the w-wrong place on mistake" Hinata chimed in

"I can't stand this, why does Asuma sensei have to go on a secret mission without us anyway? I thought we did pretty well the last one." Naruto complained

"You mean except for the part where nearly everyone died but you." Shikamaru said quickly bringing down the blond

"Yea besides that we did great!" Shikamaru and Hinata sighed at the remark.

It was now an hour past when the three were instructed to arrive and they were getting pretty restless. Well Hinata and Naruto were Shikamaru was taking a nap under a tree.

Two hours after when they were told to arrive, Naruto and Shikamaru were both sleeping under a tree in the shade. Hinata thought about napping too but didn't trust her inner self after the last mission. So she just sat down against the tree and admired the scenery. It was a very beautiful training ground you could see mountains off in the distance, nicely kept grass for sparring, a river flowed at the edge of the grass, and in the front by the trees where three large post. She thought she saw scribbles on one of the logs and used her Byakugon to get a better look. On it read "Sasuke sucks, and Ino the pig" Hinata wondered who would write mean things on a post out here.

Suddenly Hinata noticed someone approaching their position, she whispered over to Naruto and Shikamaru "Hey someone is coming wake up" Naruto and Shikamaru both raised groggy, rubbing their eyes.

Coming out of the brush was Sasuke Uchiha. He looked over at the three former classmates of his and let out a grunt. "What are you three doing here?"

"Our sensei is out on a mission and we were told to come here to train at six but no one has shown up yet" replied Shikamaru

Sasuke got a small grin at them all being doped by his sensei and his tardiness, him and his team knew just to come later than expected. "Great I have to train with you losers now."

"What was that?" Naruto retorted angrily

"I can't believe you actually passed the real test"

Naruto was about to yell back with his own comeback but was cut off by Shikamaru "We just figured we would come and give you guys a few pointers, we heard that your team was slacking behind."

Sasuke was irritated by the comeback "I doubt you guys are anywhere close to my team's level"

"Well why don't we test it out then wise guy" Naruto said as him and Shikamaru stood up. Hinata tried to play peace maker but was to no avail. At that moment Kiba, Ino and Akumaru came out into the clearing. They quickly noticed the two male genin standing in fighting position getting ready to attack their teammate and quickly jumped to his side.

"What are you three doing here!" barked Kiba

"Oh this is perfect we were just about to have a warm up, now the teams are even." Replied Naruto cracking his knuckles. Hinata was still in the back and didn't want to take any part of this confrontation.

Kiba smiled at the challenge "Sounds good to me, you ready Sasuke" Sasuke nodded confirmation.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto then created twenty clones that charged toward the two other boys. Sasuke and Kiba quickly got to work guarding each other's backs dispelling the clones one by one. Kiba was about to launch a counter attack at the blond when he suddenly felt his body stiffen.

"Shadow Possession complete" Shikamaru smirked at the opponents. Sasuke had managed to evade the shadow, but now his teammate was caught. 'As long as I don't get caught it looks like it will be just a one on one. No problem I can handle this dobe.'

"Beast Tearing Palm!" A giant blade of wind came at the two as Sasuke jumped up out of the way; Kiba however took a direct shot and was knocked a solid ten feet back. Kiba managed to get up holding is abdomen wincing at the pain. Shikamaru had released the jutsu just before it Naruto's had landed.

"That's it come on Akamaru lets show them what we can do." Kiba ordered "Fang over Fang!" Kiba and Akumaru turned into two spirals that looked like mini tornados flying through the air right for Naruto. Naruto managed to dodge out of the way just in time as the two tornados left a large gap in the ground. Naruto was caught off guard when Sasuke appeared behind him and lashed out with a devastating kick to the side of Naruto. Once the kick landed Naruto disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

"What another shadow clone, but how? I saw that thing use a jutsu!" Sasuke said confused. Suddenly Sasuke felt himself stiffened. He looked down and saw he was now caught in the shadow possession jutsu. He hoped Kiba would be able to attack him but noticed that Kiba and Akamaru had too been caught in the jutsu. 'Just great' he thought to himself

Naruto then ran out from behind one of the trees charging at Sasuke fist drawn back and clenched. Just as he was about to level the Uchiha, he noticed three shurikan wising in the air at him. Naruto then turned into another puff of smoke and replace with a log. Naruto then appeared by Shikamaru.

Ino had thrown the shurikan and was now charging at Naruto and Shikamaru with a Kunai in hand. She was cut off though by Hinata who stepped into her gentle fist. Ino didn't want to seriously hurt Hinata and slipped the Kunai back into her pocket. Hinata lunged at the blond with an open palm strike but Ino was able to jump away to avoid the blow. Everyone was a little surprised that Hinata had joined the battle. Naruto and Shikamaru especially. They both knew that she didn't like to hurt people or fight when it wasn't necessary. Hinata had a hardened look on her face though with her Byakugon active. 'I won't let anyone hurt Naruto-Kun' She had been slightly enraged when she saw the shurikan thrown at him and figured a three on two fight was not fair and she should back her teammates up.

Shikamaru whispered to Naruto as Hinata chased after the blond girl. "My jutsu is gonna run out soon. We need to finish this quick." Naruto nodded then turned his attention towards Sasuke and Kiba.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu" Naruto made one other clone as the two charged at the other two boys. The two Naruto's stopped about ten feet away and exchanged a look then started making hand signs "Beast Teari" they both started in unison but were cut off.

"What the hell exactly are all of you doing?" a voice rang out over the field

All the genin stopped what they were doing and looked up at Kakashi who was standing on a tree branch.

"They started it!" yelled out Kiba

"I don't care who started what" Kakashi said sternly looking disapprovingly at the six genin he was now responsible for, for the next week. He sighed. 'I haven't even gotten here yet and they're already fighting. I really need to stop making deals with Asuma.' "Since you all have so much pent up aggression how's about we start the training with fifty laps around the village.

"What! That's insane." Complained Shikamaru. He would have no idea what he was in for the next week.

"And you can add on five hundred pushups to that. Anymore complaints?" He looked over the disgruntled faces on five of the genin, one just looked like she was about to cry. The genin all took off then to start their laps. 'This is going to be a very interesting week.' Kakashi thought then sighed to himself as he started reading his orange book.

After the warm up as Kakashi liked to call it he made sure that the genin had no time to argue and immediately put them to a rigorous workout, he figured if they found it hard to breathe, they wouldn't dare try to talk.

Three hours of hell was over and Kakashi was finally letting them take a breather. As the six caught their breath a shadow clone of Kakashi came out of the forest. The clone was holding five packed lunches; Kakashi quickly thanked the clone and dispelled him. He then set the boxed lunches down and addressed the genin.

"Ok, Kiba, Sasuke, Ino you three probably know what's about to happen." The three groaned knowing that they were about to have a tough test ahead. "Here I have five lunches, so that means only four of you are going to eat"

"But Kakashi sensei you have five there" Ino countered back

"Hey yelling out all those orders to you guys made me hungry." All six genin looked at him with irritated faces. "To get a lunch you must get one of these bells, I only have two bells so that means you will have to work in teams of two. Now everyone get a partner."

Ino quickly pulled out a piece of paper before everyone paired off 'If Naruto and Hinata get together in a week and a half that means I win the bet.' She then noticed Kiba walking over to Sasuke and Naruto walking in the direction of Shikamaru. She thought for a second of teaming up with Hinata to plant some ideas in her but figured the best way to get the two together was to make them work together. She quickly ran over and cut Naruto off. "Hey Shikamaru, you and me are gonna be teammates"

"What? But I was" Shikamaru started but was interrupted

"Come on our dads would love to hear we worked together!"

"Awe what a drag, fine I guess so"

Hinata smiled seeing it was just her and Naruto left 'Yes, I'm going to be with Naruto-Kun!' Naruto was ok with this, last time he did the bell tests him and Hinata worked together the majority of the time anyways, and this guy didn't look like he was in as good of shape as Asuma sensei. He then made his way over to Hinata.

Kakashi stood there looking at the teams 'Well I better make this challenging for them, don't want Asuma's team going back saying this was too easy' "Ok looks like you all have a partner, now let's make this fun" Kakashi then put his book into his pocket, he wouldn't have time to read with this many enemies.

"And Begin!" All the genin fled away to the surrounding shrubs.

**Hinata and Naruto**

"Hinata-Chan lets go get him!"

"No wait Naruto-Kun, I t-think we should wait a little while." Naruto gave the girl a confused look "I-I think Kiba and Sasuke will attack soon then we can m-make our move." Suddenly two figures approached behind them, it was Shikamaru, and Ino

"You guys going to wait awhile too" Shikamaru asked

"Yea we want to see what this guy has got" Naruto replied

"Well Ino here can tell us all about him to give us an upper hand, If the four of us work together, all of us knowing his abilities and him not knowing three of ours that will give us the upper hand." The three other genin nodded their heads in agreement.

**Sasuke & Kiba**

The two had taken cover twenty yards out from the grass and were going over a plan of attack.

"Kiba you and Akumaru flank him from the back, when he turns to fight you, I'll get him in his blind spot"

"Why do I have to be the diversion, I'm the faster one" Kiba complained

"Just do it!"

"Fine, but you better not mess up; I swear if I get tied to a stump again I'm going to be pissed." Kiba and Akumaru then rushed out of the brush to the clearing.

"Man Beast Clone!" Akumaru and Kiba then transformed into a more feral looking form of Kiba. "Fang over Fang!" The two started spiraling in the air towards Kakashi. Kakashi stood there patiently waiting to take the full force of their attack. Once the attack hit the two Kibas looked around seeing there was no sign of their sensei.

"Where the hell did he go?" Kiba yelled out. The other Kiba then barked something out.

"I know I can smell him too" Suddenly one of the Kiba's was pulled under the ground up to his neck. The other one jumped back as Kakashi revealed himself.

"One down, six to go" Kakashi stated mockingly

Kiba then charged in after him but was flipped away easily by the older jonin. Kiba looked at the man angrily. 'Where the Hell is Sasuke?' Kiba continued his attack to no avail, he was just out classed and his partner wasn't anywhere to be found. Kakashi eventually finished toying with the boy and tied him up to one of the post.

"Now if your partner loves you and doesn't want to go hungry he should come and untie you while I deal with the others." Kakashi stated still poking fun at his student. Suddenly Kakashi was surrounded by four genin. He looked them over quickly 'Well this is Interesting. They teamed up, but where is Ino?'

A few minutes ago in the woods, Shikamaru, and Ino had ambushed Sasuke with a shadow possession jutsu and Ino's, Mind Transfer Jutsu to take over Sasuke's body.

Naruto formed twenty clones and charged in after the grey haired jonin. He was making quick work of them but was caught off guard when one of them started using gentle fist. The gentle fist user was able to hit one of his points in his leg slowing him down. 'What the! Wait where did the Nara and Hyuga go?'

"Fire Ball Jutsu!" the impersonator Sasuke announced. Kakashi quickly jumped out of the way before the jutsu could be formed but as he looked at Sasuke nothing formed.

"It was a trick!" Kakashi exclaimed his eyes wide. Suddenly he felt his whole body go rigid.

"Shadow Possession complete" One of the Naruto's said with a smirk. Kakashi looked at them all wide eyed still confused. The majority of the Narutos then dispersed while two turned into Shikamaru and Hinata. Sasuke gave a girly cheer and stuck his tongue out at Kakashi.

Naruto walked up and took the two bells from the jonin and tossed one to Shikamaru. Sasuke then walked over to the post as Naruto and Hinata tied him up.

"Sasuke what are you doing! You purposely lost this for us?" Kiba yelled. Ino then released the jutsu as the real Sasuke came back.

"What the Hell? You losers!" Sasuke yelled at the other four. Kakashi chuckled that these four genin had managed to team up and trick him and take down the other team on their own.

"Very clever, I see team chemistry isn't a problem on your team" He said smiling looking over at the tied up Sasuke and Kiba. 'This is definitely going to be an interesting week.'

"This is all your fault you know that!" Kiba scolded Sasuke

"Just shut up you loser" Sasuke retorted. The four genin and jonin then sat down and enjoyed a good meal after a hard day's work.

"Hey you guys forgot to go unbury Akumaru!" Kiba yelled but everyone just ignored him and continued on enjoying their meal.

**END**

**A/N: HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED IT, NOT A REALLY EXCITING CHAPTER BUT HOPEFULLY YOU GUYS LIKED IT.**

**Some things I think every reader should know about this story.**

**-Haku is alive and with the Akatsuki, not too many of the akatsuki are well known, Itachi is their big celebrity but no one has ever heard of Zetsu, Nagato, or Konan, so I feel like he fits in well with them.**

**-Sakura and Hinata both like Naruto**

**-Third Hokage just has a minor illness right now, nothing life threatening, but he is weaker because of this.**

**-The majority of the future of this story is going to be different from the canon now.**


	8. Chapter 8 Best 3 Legged Race

**Chapter 8: Best 3 Legged Race**

Teams 10 and 7 minus Asuma were gathered in the Hokage's office waiting to get a new mission. The past few days had been easier than the first, the genin were a little afraid of the physical tourcher Kakashi would make them endure if they didn't behave. That didn't mean that there still wasn't any conflict though. Naruto, Kiba, and Sasuke all still argued whenever the opportunity arose. Ino would quickly jump in to help out Sasuke, not that he wanted any, he and Kiba were still a little salty about the bell training. Whenever Shikamaru felt Naruto was being unfairly picked on he would stand up for the blond and not back an inch. Hinata wished she was able to stick up for Naruto the way Shikamaru and Naruto did for each other and for her from time to time, but she still had a shyness problem, and would stutter still.

The Hokage looked over the new team that was doubled in size. "It looks like with the extra manpower you could help an elderly man and his ranch duties in no time."

"Hell No!" Kiba and Naruto retorted in unison. Ino was quick to deliver a large blow to both of the boy's heads.

"Common Old man, I don't want to get stuck doing chores again." Naruto moaned

"Yea, we heard you already gave team 10 a C-rank mission and if losers like them are ready you know we are!" Kiba put in. He got some evil glares from Naruto and Shikamaru, and a depressed looking Hinata. Naruto would have definitely yelled out and started a small argument with the Inuzuka boy at the remark but he did want to get a higher ranking mission and still kept in mind that Kakashi-sensei threatened them with more conditioning training if they didn't get along.

While Iruka went on scolding and explaining what missions are given out to what rank of ninja the Hokage thought to himself tuning out the chunin. 'This would be a good way to get Sasuke Uchiha some good experience… And I'm sure that Naruto and Kiba will never quit their complaining until I agree.' The third Hokage sighed to himself. As Iruka was still explaining the Hokage interrupted him.

"Fine I'm assigning you seven to retrieve a golden statue that was stolen from a feudal lord. This will be a C-rank mission and the pay will have to be divided up between the seven of you instead of four."

"All right!" Kiba and Naruto cheered in unison. The other genin all looked happier at their new mission, well except for Shikamaru moaning about more work. The genin all headed out of the Hokage's office back to their homes to collect supplies they would need for the mission and to inform their parents. None of them knew how long they would be gone, they were told to retrieve a golden statue from some bandits, but they weren't to leave the land of fire.

**Konoha Gate**

Hinata, Sasuke, and Ino all arrived ten minutes early to go on the mission but were now waiting for the rest of their team. Fifteen minutes after the time they were instructed to arrive Naruto and Shikamaru started strolling in.

"Where the hell have you two been!" demanded Ino, she wasn't really all that mad, she actually kinda wished Hinata hadn't shown up early too so that she could have had alone time with Sasuke again.

"Kakashi sensei is always late, so we figured we could grab a bite to eat before we head out." Replied Shikamaru unaffected by Ino's yelling. Naruto walked over to Hinata letting Shikamaru take some more verbal abuse from Ino. The blond reached into his back pack and pulled out something covered in napkins and held it out to the Hyuga girl.

"Here Hinata-Chan, I got you a cinnamon roll since you didn't get to come eat with us" Naruto stated smiling at Hinata. Hinata's eyes widened at this and soon a blush rose on her face '**GOD I LOVE THESE THINGS!**'

"Oh N-Naruto-Kun you didn't have to bother y-yourself with this" She replied sheepishly still blushing

"It was no bother, I felt bad for not inviting you to come eat with me and Shikamaru and I can't let my teammate go hungry" Hinata then smiled and reached out to accept the gift her crush had gotten her. 'Naruto-kun got me a gift that means that he thinks about me sometimes! Right? And how did he know what my favorite treat is?'

"Awwwe that's so cute! Sasuke-kun why can't you do stuff for me like that!" Ino chimed in smiling at the cute scene of Naruto and Hinata then quickly turning that to anger at Sasuke. This caused Naruto and Hinata to blush and look down a little.

"Because I don't like you!"

"Sasuke-kun I just don't get why you keep lieing to yourself." Ino said shaking her head which just irritated Sasuke more. When he first got put on a team with Ino he tried to just ignore her and not talk to her, but she would never give up, she would just continue yelling at him and seemed to get joy out of what ever reaction she got from the Uchiha.

Eventually Kiba and Akumaru showed up, they too would not escape the wrath of Ino Yamanaka. She went on complaining until Kakashi finally arrived an hour late.

"What took you so long sensei!?" Ino demanded "Let me guess an old lady crossed the road, a couple decided to move into a new apartment and you just had to help, or a black cat crossed you're path and you had to walk around the entire village!"

"Well actually" Kakashi started

_FlashBack_

_Kakashi was leaving his apartment to go on the mission with what he thought must have been a record six rookie genin to just one jonin. As he started walking he was cut off by an old friend. _

"_My eternal rival Kakashi!" Guy said to him with an unnatural amount of energy and enthusiasm._

"_Oh hey Guy" _

"_Kakashi its time for us to have one of our matches to measure our power of youth!" Guy exclaimed. Kakashi then noticed behind guy were three genin, one of which looked like a carbon copy of him which frightened Kakashi_

"_I really can't right now Guy, I was just about"_

"_I won't take no for an answer, I told my students about our challenges and how I am winning 49-47 and figured the only way to really ignite their fires of youth is to show them in person what its like when the two best that the leaf has to offer clash!" One of the genin behind guy was nearly peeing himself in excitement, Kakashi sighed at this._

"_Fine I'll accept you're challenge, but on one condition."_

"_And what would that be?"_

"_If I win you have to take care Asuma's genin for the next two weeks"_

_Guy started laughing "I accept your stipulation and raise you two hundred laps around the village with my genin!" As guy proclaimed that the two other genin of his team had sweat drop with fear of the promise their sensei just made on their behalf while the other one was squirming like a school girl he was so excited._

"_Ok whats the challenge Guy?"_

"_I'm Glad you ask! I've studied you over the years my good friend and I have decided a staring contest will be your downfall! You're one eye is no match for my two eyes letting me keep them open twice as long as you." Guy stated confidently like he had found a glaring weakness in his long time rival. At the name of the challenge the miniature Guy started quickly taking notes while the other two lost their balance at how ridiculous of a statement their sensei made._

"_Ok sounds good to me." The two jonin then squared off. They started a countdown in unison._

"_Three"_

"_Two" Sweat started to drop from the two jonin as the intensity increased_

"_One!" At the end of that Kakashi and Guy were locked in a head to head starring battle, neither one giving an sign of blinking. They continued like this for twenty minutes._

"_How are they doing this?" The girl genin asked_

"_I honestly don't know, it is actually quite remarkable for how tedious of a contest this is." Replied the Hyuga genin_

"_It must be the power of youth that drives them forward!" yelled out the mini version of Guy. The two were still locked head to head not even twitching, when Guy's gaze drifted to the rooftop behind Kakashi. Upon the roof was a small boy with a scarf around his neck, he seemed to be fleeing from Guy's old teammate Ebisu which is what caught Guy's attention in the first place. As he continued to watch the scene develop the boy yelled out_

"_Sexy Jutsu!" at the same time both Guy and Ebisu were sent flying back with nose bleeds from the boy turning into a naked woman only covered in clouds._

"_Well I guess that means I win" Kakashi said with an eye smile then turned to leave. The miniature Guy was shedding waterfalls of tears at his sensei's defeat, while the other two just looked deadpan at the scene._

**Clearing not far from Leaf Village**

Kakashi was sitting on the stump of a cut down tree laying out a map in front of the six genin. "Ok we know that the gang of bandits is somewhere on this trail. So to cover as much ground as possible were going to split up into three teams. Team one will be me, I'll start from the end of the trail and work my way back to team 2. Team two will be Sasuke, Kiba, and Shikamaru, you guy will start in the middle of the trail and have Kiba try to locate them with his and Akamaru's nose. Team 3 will be Ino, Naruto, and Hinata. You three will start from the beginning of the trail here and try to find them."

"Uhh Sensei" Shikamaru interrupted "Why did you put me with Kiba and Sasuke instead of my team?"

"You won't always be assigned missions with your teammates, it will be good for you genin to learn to work with new people and I figured your team is the most likely to run into the enemy first and wanted you to be there to come up with a good strategy if you do find them." The genin all nodded their heads agreeing that it was a good strategy. Naruto was a little upset he wasn't put on the team most likely to find the bandits but he figured if he and his team moved fast enough they might find them first anyway.

Ino grinned evily at the team announcement, she then pulled out a slip of paper, scanning it quickly. She saw that she was now in her time period for the bet on when Naruto would realize how Hinata felt about him. After training with them for a couple days she was pretty sure Naruto liked her too, but that wasn't enough for a win. Choji had tried to claim victory a couple weeks ago saying that the two were lying down together taking a nap but the rest said that wasn't enough proof. But Ino was going to make something happen in these next two weeks, too much was on the line for her to lose.

Hinata and Naruto were both glad they were on the same team as the other but were both still too shy say anything but Ino was sure to help them with that.

As the teams split up, team 3 moved at a very fast past, Naruto wanting to see as much action as possible. Team 2 moved at a quick pace too but they had further to go. Kakashi who had the furthest journey moved moderately, he figured that team 2 would intercept the enemy and once they set off the signal he would just rush over there and take care of things. The mission briefing said there were only bandits in the group but Kakashi being safe split the teams up so the three strongest genin in his mind would see the action while the other three just stayed safe on the sideline.

A little while later team two arrived at the midway point on the trail. The three genin scanned the area seeing that there were no signs of fresh tracks here.

"It looks like nobody has been through here yet." Kiba stated

"That means that they must be coming this way." Sasuke put in

"Well lets go get them!"Kiba barked out

"Wait a second guys" Shikamaru now putting his word in "We don't know how many of them are coming in this gang. If we charge in at them head on we could be out numbered and easily beaten. Where if we wait here we could set up some traps and plan an ambush. This would greatly increase our odds of survival and mission success.

"That's some good thinking Shikamaru" Kiba acknowledged while Sasuke just let out a small grunt agreeing with the plan. The three began setting up the traps while Akamaru stood look out a ways away from them to inform the group if the bandits where coming.

Meanwhile Naruto, Hinata, and Ino where moving quickly alongside the trail. Hinata and Ino were starting to pant slightly at the quick pace Naruto was setting for them.

"Can't we go a little slower." Ino moaned

"No, I want to get that statue before Sasuke and the rest of those guys do."

"What does it matter who gets it first, as long as we get it we will pass the mission."

"Yes N-Naruto-Kun I-I don't really see why we must push ourselves so hard." Hinata chimed in. Naruto knew he had to try and get one of them on his side so he figured a little motivation would work. He had no idea how well though.

"Fine, we can go slow, but I just figured that you would want to impress Sasuke, Ino."

"How would getting some dumb statue impress Sasuke-Kun?"

"Are you kidding? If I saw a girl go out, push herself and prove that she is a real kuniochi, I know that it would make me wobbly in the knees." Naruto said confidently trying to pursued Ino.

Ino had fire spark in her eyes. She pictured her holding the golden statue and Sasuke asking her out because of how impressed he would be with her. She was completely on board now with the plan and would be the one to get that statue no matter what.

"Then what are we waiting for lets go already!" Ino yelled as she took off ahead of Naruto. Naruto grinned seeing he had gotten Ino on his side but then a small look of couriosity took over his face as he saw Hinata go wising past him quickly catching up to Ino.

As Hinata was catching up to Ino she thought to herself. 'Naruto-Kun wants a girl that pushes herself and is a real kuniochi. Then I must get that statue no matter what! Then he will be the one with shaky legs and not me' She blushed a little imagining almost the exact same scene as Ino but with it being herself and Naruto.

A little while had passed and team 3 now caught up to the group of bandit. The three watched the group from the trees. They quickly noted that there were five men guarding a chest that was in the middle of all of them with one man leading the gang out in front. They were all on horses except for the one guilding the horse that was carring the treasure.

"Hinata can you make sure the statue is in that box?" Ino asked looking at the Hyuga. Hinata nodded her head and then whispered "Byakugon" activating her doujutstu. Hinata scanned the box seeing the statue of a teddy bear.

"Yes the statue is in there. But wait there is some" Hinata was cuts off as Naruto jumped into action

"Well lets go!" Naruto yelled as he quickly created a half dozen shadow clones and began the ambush.

"Why can't he ever be patient?" Ino complained as she and Hinata jumped in to back up the reckless blond. Naruto and his clones spread out after all the men quickly getting in small squirmishes. The bandits however had more training than the report said they would and were easily taking care of the Naruto clones.

"Looks like these little brats need to be taught a lesson." The leader declared with a fiendish smile as he took out two more of the clones.

"It's ok boss I got the box!" one of the gang members yelled out. "I'll go on ahead"

"Ok but don't go too far!" the leader barked out. Hinata had now joined Naruto in the brawl as she took on one of the gang members who were now seeming more like rogue ninjas. Naruto saw the one member running away with the box and knew he had to stop him.

"Beast Tearing Palm!" Naruto announced as a large blade of wind knocked three of the bandits down and tripping the fleeing robber. As the one running with the box fell, he lost possession of the box, once it crashed against the ground the box opened up and the statue fell out. The leader was still busy fighting two of the Naruto clones off to really do anything.

Hinata quickly lept over to the fallen gold statue and picked it up. "Naruto-kun I have the statue!"

"Naruto! Hinata! You're both so stupid!" the man who had been fleeing with the box yelled, this left puzzled looks on both Hinata and Naruto. "Its me! Ino! You idiots!" Ino had used her mind transfer jutsu at the beginning of the ambush hoping to get away with the statue during all the commotion. Naruto was now standing by the two still a little confused at what exactly was going on.

Suddenly the leader came charging at them holding a kunai in his left hand. "You brats wont get away that easy!"

"You two go, Ill take care of this guy!" Ino barked out to her team

"We can't just" Naruto started

"Just go! My mind transfer will wear off and ill meet up with you guys. Naruto and Hinata didn't want to go and hesitated for another second. Ino in the new bandit's body was now locked up with the leader of the gang with their kunai up against the others.

"I said just go already!" Ino yelled once more. Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand to get her out of the area, it seemed as though she was almost frozen up with fear again but was brought back into the moments by Naruto's hand gripped around hers.

"You two aren't gonna get away that easy!" The leader yelled as he shot some kind of blue slimy liquid at Naruto and Hinata. The strange liquid covered their interlocked hands as they tried to flee away down the slope of the trail and knocked them off balance. This caused the two to start tumbling down the slope hitting branches and rocks on the way down. Naruto now with his free arm and hand wrapped them around Hinata trying to shield her from the ground and branches while Hinata tucked her head down to keep her face and eyes protected along with holding the statue with her free hand tucking it in close to her stomach.

As the two tumbled down the steep slope the leader let out a growl. He then turned his attention back to the bandit that Ino was possessing giving a fierce look.

"Well looks like I'm gonna need something to trade for my treasure."

Ino let out a small laugh "Too bad for you then. Release!" Ino woke up in her body then. But this wasn't the place that she had left herself. She looked around franticly, fear filled her mind as she saw that she was surrounded by the other three members of the gang.

"What was that? Too bad for me eh?" The leader said as he walked over to the blond girl with a smirk on his face. The men then proceeded to tie up Ino, once restrained two of the men threw her down to her knees in front of the leader. He grabbed her by the bottom of her jaw and brought his face in a little too close for comfort.

"Now you're gonna be a good little lady and tell us everything about your teammates, and help me get my treasure back."

Ino glared right into his eyes "I aint gonna tell you shit, you low life, good for" Ino was cut off by a hard slap to the face. Some tears started to form in her eyes but she held them back. She wouldn't give the scum the pleasure.

"Fine if you're gonna be that way, we'll just kill your little blond friend. But don't worry. We won't kill you or that other brat. There are a lot of guys that will pay good money for some nice young girls." Ino's worst fear had just been threatened against her. She had learned about this risk of being a female ninja, she just hoped that it wasn't true and she would never be in that kind of a situation.

At the bottom of the large slope Hinata and Naruto were starting to come back to their senses. Both were laying on their backs on the edge of a river. Hinata hadn't experienced anything too bad on the fall because of Naruto shielding her but Naruto was still a little dizzy.

"You still got the statue?" Naruto asked turning his head to his teammate. Hinata nodded, lifting the statue to show.

"That's good." Naruto let out a sigh of a little relief. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, I hit my back on a couple rocks but I'm fine"

"That good" Hinata then started to scan Naruto and saw that his cloths were a lot more torn up than hers and had some small patches of blood. She then realized that he had hurt himself shielding her. She frowned at this and thought to herself. 'Why does he always protect me? Why am I always too weak? Why am I always such a burden?' she frowned at the thoughts.

"N-Naruto-kun let me treat your cuts" She said figuring she could at least do that to be useful. Naruto grinned a little as a way to accept her help. He wasn't ust to people fixing up his bumps and bruises, all his life he would have to go home to try and fix them himself. But Hinata always offered to fix him up and he kinda liked it. More so since their mission in the land of waves.

Hinata smiled as she started to sit up but something was tugging at her hand. She looked down, her eyes widened in shock as there was a large blue rubber like ball around hers and Naruto's hands. 'I'm still holding Naruto's hand!?"

Naruto then looked and was equally as shocked. "Wha-What is this stuff?" He asked franticly.

"I-I-I don't know." Hinata replied equally as frantic. She was now blushing almost completely red at this. The two tried pulling apart as hard as they could but it was to no avail. They were stuck together at the hand and weren't sure what to do.

Naruto studied the blue rubber ball for a moment. He then looked up at Hinata and noticed her blushing. He had finally realized why she blushed around him a week ago.

_Flash Back_

_Naruto, team 10 and team 8 were saying good bye to Inari and Tazuna, just before they left Inari ran up to Naruto._

"_I have a secret to tell you Naruto" Inari whispered to him_

"_Oh yea? What is it?" Naruto leaned down so Inari could wisper into his ear so no one else could hear._

"_I heard Choji talking to Hinata the other day and she said she likes you" Inari whispered then pulled back and smiled at the blond. Naruto's eyes went wide as he looked over at Hinata and Sakura both stood there blushing feeling he was looking at them._

**END**

**A/N: INARI IS ON TEAM HINATA! THE LITTLE GUY HAS SOME TRICKS UP HIS SLEEVE. SORRY ABOUT HOW LONG THIS CH TOOK AND I WANTED TO GET THIS WHOLE STORY ARC DONE IN ONE CH BUT IT STARTED TO STRECH TOO LONG. NEXT CH IS GONNA HAVE ANOTHER PRETTY INTERESTING SURPRISE (NOT INVOLVING NARUTO) AND THEN A BIG MOMENT IN NARUTO'S LIFE. PLEASE REVIEW, I DO ENJOY ALL YOUR COMMENTS GOOD AND NEGATIVE.**

**PS: SOMEONE WAS SAYING THAT HINATA WITH FIRESTYLE WAS DUMB. IF YOU LOOK INTO IT HINATA IS A FIRE AND LIGHTNING RELEASE USER SO EXPECT SOME BIG BOOMS FROM HER.**


	9. Chapter 9 Best 3 Legged Race Part 2

**Chapter 9:**

"Where the hell are those bandits?" complained Kiba "They should have been here by now." They had been sitting for almost two hours now waiting for the gang of bandits to fall into their trap or to hear word from Kakashi or the other team of genin.

"It is possible that they already passed through the area and our info was bad about them." Replied Shikamaru as he lay down in the grass looking up at the clouds. "Or…"

"Or what!" Kiba asked

"There is a chance that Naruto, Hinata, and Ino ran into them already"

"If that happened they would be here to rendezvous with us by now." Sasuke interjected "We better go check on them." The Uchia boy stated with some hidden worry behind his words.

"I'm sure their fine" Shikamaru replied trying to brush the situation over. "Our info told us that it is just a group of bandits, Naruto and Hinata can take care of them and Ino looked like she can take care of herself."

"I'm getting tired of sitting here though!" Kiba yelled frustrated wanting some action. Akamaru yipped to back his master up.

"I'm going back to check on them" Sasuke stated firmly

"Since when do you care about Naruto?" Shikamaru argued a little interested in the urgency from Sasuke

"I don't" Sasuke stated flatly as he jumped off onto a tree branch into the direction of the other team.

"What's got him so eager?" Shikamaru asked turning to Kiba and Akamaru

Kiba shrugged "He probably has a crush on Hinata" Kiba said with a smirk "She was the only girl in the academy that wasn't always fan girling over him"

"Ugh… This is such a drag. We better go with him." Shikamaru replied annoyed at the extra work he was going to have to do. The three then jumped up to the same tree branch that Sasuke jumped off to.

**Kakashi**

Kakashi was sitting on a tree branch just off the trail going around the mountainous area reading his little orange book. He didn't get too much quiet time to read anymore with his team constantly arguing every time they got together and trained. So he was enjoying this precious quiet moment. 'The kids sure are taking their time in sending me the signal. I wonder how they are doing.'

Kakashi was taken out of his train of thought as he heard a bird calling above him. He signaled the bird down knowing it was a messenger bird. He took out the note it was caring seeing it was addressed to him. He quickly scanned it over. 'What!? Jako! He is a Jonin level rogue ninja from the cloud. This isn't good. I have to go check on the others' with that Kakashi started the signs for his summoning jutsu. Suddenly a small dog appeared.

"Yo what's up Kakashi?" the small pug dog said in a deep voice

"No time for pleasantries Pakun. I need you to sniff out Kiba, Sasuke, or Ino fast" Kakashi stated quickly

"Alright" At that the dog took off with Kakashi right behind him. The dog had learned their scents from a couple training sessions with the team.

**Bandit camp**

Jako was standing over the slope looking down over the river area when another one of the group approached him.

"The blond bitch talk yet?" He asked

"No. That idiot Suguro got pissed off when she spat in his face and he got carried away and knocked her out" The gang member stated coldly. Jako growled at this. He didn't mind him beating the girl as long as he got the info out of her.

"Any updates about the statue and the other two brats?"

"I sent the other two to go find them but they haven't reported back yet."

"Were not leaving this mountain until I get that statue back! Wake up the blond and start interrogating her again." Jako ordered sternly.

**Naruto and Hinata**

The two were standing looking intently at the blue orb of some weird substance on their hands. They were stuck together, they tried to simply pull apart, and it would stretch but never break.

"Hinata-Chan can you use your Byakugon to see what this stuff is made of?" Naruto asked. Hinata gave a quick nod then activated her doujutsu. As she scanned it her eyes widened.

"What, what is it Hinata-Chan?" Naruto asked with some concern seeing the girl's eyes widen.

"I-Its chakra" Hinata replied in a soft voice

"What? I didn't know chakra could do this."

"I've never heard anything of it either." The two continued to scan it over for a little while more, trying to brainstorm ideas of getting it off.

"I think I have an Idea…" Naruto spoke up. Hinata then looked at the blond. Naruto then looked over to a waterfall that was near them with a stone hanging out near the bottom.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata said in a fearful voice knowing what he was thinking.

"Common I bet it would break if we jumped off and aimed it right." The blond boy pleaded. Hinata continued to look at him fearfully. Before Hinata could voice her fear of the idea Naruto was already dragging her over to the top of the waterfall.

Once they reached the top Naruto gave Hinata his signature grin.

"You ready?"

"N-Naruto-Kun I-I don't think this is a good idea" Hinata pleaded even more afraid of the idea now looking down at the bottom of the waterfall. It must have been at least forty feet down.

"Don't worry we can do this." Naruto said trying to encourage her with a smile.

"I-I don't wanna do this Naruto-Kun" Hinata said still full with fear. Naruto looked at her and saw her eyes filled with fear and possible some tears forming but being held back. Naruto started to reconsider this. He didn't want to force Hinata to do anything she wasn't comfortable with but he also wanted to get his hand unstuck.

"Yea I guess it's a dumb idea now that I really think about it." Naruto said scratching the back of his head with a weak smile his eyes showing concern seeing Hinata so afraid. Hinata sighed in relief at this and returned a look of thanks at the blond.

"But how are we gonna get our hands free?" Naruto asked raising up the conjoined hands

"Well if w-we can get back to Kakashi sensei i-I'm sure he will know w-what to do."

"Yea your probably right" Naruto replied. The two then started making their way up the slope back to the trail to join back up with the rest of their team. Hinata was stuck in a light blush the whole time. She kept thinking about how she was still holding hands with Naruto, her crush.

The two made their way back up to the trail and started walking down it but were stopped when they saw something they hadn't expected. The two ducked behind a large bolder on the side of the trail and looked to see the bandits waiting in a small area. The two could see three of them waiting around in the camp, two looked frustrated but one had a small grin on his face. They listened in as the one grinning began to speak.

"Well well well. Look who finally woke up." Suguro stated. Naruto and Hinata then noticed that it was their fellow leaf genin Ino that he was talking to.

Naruto scowled at this "They got Ino" He whispered angrily to Hinata. She looked on in fear of their teammate being captured.

"You ready to talk yet?" Suguro asked mockingly at the blond

"Go to hell!" Ino retorted defiantly. The large man smirked at that.

"I was really hoping you would say something like that" Suguro began to crack his knuckles still smirking looking down at the blond leaf kunoichi.

"We have to stop this!" Naruto said still quiet enough so the bandits could not hear.

"W-Wait, Naruto-Kun" Hinata said stopping the blond from rushing into battle.

"What? We can't just let him beat her!"

"We can't fight properly like this" She then raised their conjoined hands "W-We need to somehow bluff our way through this."

"How are we gonna do that?"

"I-I have an idea…" Hinata then started whispering into Naruto's ear informing him of her plan. Naruto started nodding his head in agreement.

"I think that might actually work. Good Idea Hinata-Chan" The two then leapt off into the trees.

Sugura was rearing his fist ready to slug Ino in the face once again. Ino's face was already badly bruised and cut. She had clearly taken quite a beating already. If she hadn't been naturally stubborn she or any other genin would have most likely talked by now. But she was not budging an inch. "I'll try to make sure you don't get knocked out again. You're gonna talk one way or another."

"Ha! My mom hits harder than you!" Ino yelled. Suguro then slugged her in the eye because of this. This knocked Ino off her knees and lying on the ground pinching her eyes shut trying to hold back the waterfall of tears she was hiding. She just wanted to cry. Her face and head hurt and throbbed. She had been beaten for over a half hour and it wasn't getting any better.

"You ready to talk yet brat?" Suguro asked frustrated by the girl's defiance. Ino just opened her left eye; she couldn't open up her right one. She could feel it swelling up fast. Suguro smirked again at the lack of response. "Fine have it your way." The larger man then started winding up to kick the blond girl in the ribs. Just before his foot struck the prone Ino his face was met with a ferocious fist. The large man fell backward holding his face.

A figure was now standing in between Ino and the large man who was sitting down holding his nose.

"If you ever touch her again…" The new figure said their words filled with anger. Ino couldn't see who it was but the voice sounded familiar. The figure began to speak again.

"I. Will. Kill. You." Those words getting their point across filled with killing intent. Ino's vision was now coming back to her, her left eye widened as she saw the Uchiha crest on the back of the figure's shirt.

"That was a cheap shot kid but you really think you can stop me!" Suguro exclaimed still sitting on the ground. Sasuke then turned down and knelt down next to his teammate Ino.

"S-Sasuke-Kun…" Ino said weakly with some disbelief that he was here saving her. Sasuke then picked her up slightly holding her upper torso up examining his teammate's face. He saw all the cuts and bruises noticing that her right eye was completely swollen shut, she had a couple cuts underneath her eye and chin, and the majority of her face was bruised and swollen.

"Ino…" Sasuke spoke softly giving her a caring look. A look that Ino had never seen from the isolated Uchiha

"I-I didn't tell him anything Sasuke-kun, and…" She was then cut off by him

"It's ok Ino. I'm here now." The expression on Sasuke's face quickly turned to rage as he set Ino back down and turned back to the man that he assumed did this to her. "And you're gonna pay for this." Sasuke stated coldly. His eyes filled with anger. The larger man now stood up and prepared himself for a fight. The other two then approached surrounding the young Uchiha and Ino.

"You don't have a chance against us kid. But it is cute that you're sticking up for your girlfriend." Jako mockingly stated. Sasuke was quiet for a moment with his head lowered.

"Hey look Jako, I think he's crying!" Sugura said mocking the boy. At this Sasuke raised his head reading himself for battle.

"You're all gonna pay for this!" Sasuke yelled, at this large rush of anger his Sharingan now activated with two tic marks in each eye.

"Well those are some funky eyes you got there kid but you're still outnumbered three to one" Jako stated. Their concentration was interrupted by the voice of another from behind and above from a tree.

"Really looks to me like its three on three!" The bandits and Ino looked up at the sound of the voice. Sasuke kept his concentration and killing intent on Sugura. Up in the tree where Naruto and Hinata standing closely next to each other hiding their hands behind themselves.

"Oh look the other two brats showed up." Sugura stated "You three still don't have a chance against the three of us!"

"Well it's a good thing that there aren't three then huh." The attention then turned to another tree. In it were Shikamaru and Kiba standing. Shikamaru's voice was the one that had interrupted the bandits. Kiba then looked at his fallen teammate.

"Ino!" Kiba yelled out and was about to jump to her but was stopped by Shikamaru's hand.

"We need to take care of these guys first, and then we can check on Ino." Shikamaru said reasoning with the furious dog user. Kiba growled at this and then turned to the bandits.

"I'm gonna rip you guys apart!" Kiba barked out. The three bandits now looked slightly worried as the numbers game now was against them.

"You guys take care of the other two. I got dibs on fatso here" Sasuke stated still staring down Sugura with his now Sharingan eyes.

"Sounds good to me" Shikamaru replied for the rest of the leaf genin "Kiba you and Akamaru take care of the small fry over there, Me Naruto, and Hinata will take out the leader." All the genin nodded at this.

"Ok let's do this!" Naruto yelled out as he leaned in to leap at Jako but Hinata was not ready and fell backwards on the other side of the branch. Their conjoined hands stuck in the middle as the two fell down opposite sides of the branch. The two fell down and then swung into each other, both moving their free arm to catch the other so they didn't keep colliding but by doing this nothing separated them as they flung into each other. Both opened their eyes looking at the other in immense fear as they felt the other's lips on their own!

Hinata fearfully thought to herself quick 'I Just Kissed Naruto! My first kiss! And it's with Naruto!' Naruto at the same time thought frantically 'I'm Kissing Hinata!' Kiba and Shikamaru had shocked expressions on their faces as well at what had just happened. Sasuke didn't notice what just happened and didn't care he was still just staring down Sugura.

"Hinata-Chan I uh I'm so sorry I-I didn't mean to!" Naruto started frantically but it fell on deft ears as Hinata had already succumbed to the moment and had fainted hanging there in the tree. Naruto turned to Shikamaru and Kiba "Uhhhhh this might take a while…" Naruto said with a sheepish grin at the others

The two let out a sigh and refocused their attention back to the enemy who was laughing hysterically at sight they just witnessed.

"Oh well so much for that plan…" Shikamaru said. He and Kiba then jumped down next to each side of Sasuke preparing themselves for battle.

Without warning Sasuke was the first to lunge at his opponent, unleashing a furry of kicks and punches at the man, not giving him any time to go on the offensive. Meanwhile Kiba quickly charged his opponent who pulled out a kunai to defend himself as did Kiba in response, the two were locked in a grip of kunai bearing against each other.

Shikamaru stayed patiently waiting for his opponent to make the first move so he could evaluate the situation.

"You're pretty unlucky brat." Jako stated sizing up the new genin in his way. "You are the only one going up against a real ninja"

"Well your whole team is up against ninja, the numbers game doesn't sit well for you"

"Ha, you brats call yourself ninja! What are you still genin? Once you reach Jonin come talk to me." Shikamaru didn't like the sounds of that. One Jonin and two thug's most likely still could beat three genin. He then thought if he could capture him in his shadow possession jutsu maybe that would give Sasuke and Kiba enough time to win their fights and hopefully Naruto enough to wake up Hinata.

Jako then took this time to launch his attack; Shikamaru quickly dodged jumping out of way to his left. He then threw three shurikan at Jako. Jako however countered himself sending out his liquid chakra to absorb and stop the shurikan. Shikamaru quickly analyzed this and planed out his next few moves. As Shikamaru stood there he drifted his attention back to Naruto seeing the blond gently shaking Hinata trying to awaken her to no avail.

Suddenly Shikamaru's feet were covered in the liquid chakra and were stuck to the ground.

"What the!?" Shikamaru exclaimed

"Ninja 101 never take your eyes of the opponent" Jako said mockingly. Jako then readied a kunai and began walking over to the immobilized Shikamaru. Shikamaru then reached to pull out a kunai of his own but his nerves go to him and he dropped the kunai near his feet. Jako now grabbed Shikamaru by the throat preventing him from picking up the dropped weapon.

"Wow the shinobi in the Leaf sure is dumb now a day huh?" Jako stated and was about to stab the boy with his kunai when he suddenly felt his whole body go rigid. "My body! Why can't I move?" Shikamaru grinned at this as Jako's hand left his throat and then dropped to his side.

"Shadow Possession complete" Shikamaru stated with a smirk

"What the?" Jako said confused

"You completely fell for it, I let you get close so you wouldn't be able to dodge my technique and now I have you at my mercy." Shikamaru said confidently, the genin's attention then turned to Naruto "Hey Naruto can you make a couple shadow clones and finish this guy off for me?"

Naruto just gave Shikamaru a deadpan look and pointed to his conjoined hand which prevented him from forming any hand signs.

"Oh well… this is awkward…" Shikamaru said embarrassed of his miscalculation. Jako looked angrily at the young teen that had almost outsmarted him with a tic mark forming on his forehead.

"I got trapped by a moron… Just great…" Jako stated

"It's ok; a good strategist always has a backup plan." Shikamaru then made the motion for throwing a kunai with his right hand which Jako mirrored throwing his kunai down the slope away from the area. "I dropped my kunai earlier on purpose not because I was rattled."

Jako's eyes widened at this. Shikamaru then reached down to pick his kunai up and held it to Jako's chest implying he was ready to stab him.

Meanwhile in Kiba's fight he was faring well easily out skilling the small thug. Kiba leapt back to give himself room to prepare his jutsu. "That's it Akamaru!" The small dog jumped to Kiba's side at this. "Fang over fang!" the two then turned into two mini tornadoes and impaled the thug easily taking him out of action. Kiba stood proudly over he now incapacitated opponent. His eyes then drifted over to his teammate Sasuke.

Sasuke was saddled on the larger man's chest and was viciously punching him in the face repeatedly with a small pool of blood around his head.

"Sasuke! What are you doing!" Kiba yelled as he rushed over to his teammate. Sasuke didn't hear his teammate's cry as he was lost in a sea of rage slamming his fist into the man's face.

Kiba now reached Sasuke and grabbed his arm as he was pulling back to land another blow to the man's face.

"Sasuke stop!" Kiba cried as he held his teammates arm back. Kiba had a look of concern and slight disgust seeing his teammate's face with specs of blood on it, Sharingan active and rage filled eyes. Kiba then turned his attention the man whose face was a little hard to recognize now with all the blood probably broken nose and jaw and almost completely swollen face.

Sasuke suddenly came back to reality as he realized what he had done. He didn't have any sympathy for the man though. Not after what he had done to Ino. He couldn't have any sympathy for anyone that hurt someone that mattered in his life. In that moment he didn't care what happened to the man. He just wanted to make him pay for what he had done.

Sasuke then got up ripping his arm away from Kiba's grasp and walked over to Ino. He untied her and picked her up slightly in his arm as he then grabbed a cloth out of his bag. He then started wiping her face off gently with the cloth to get the blood from the cuts washed away from her face. He looked down at her the whole while with a caring look. An expression no one knew he had. Ino didn't say anything as she just sniffled still refusing to cry looking up at Sasuke with her one eye that wasn't swollen shut.

Kiba looked confused at this for a bit until Shikamaru yelled over to him to come help tie the last standing member of the gang up. Kiba of course quickly went over to him and proceeded to tie the leader up. Once he was immobilized Kiba and Shikamaru tied the other two up and placed the three next to each other. Shikamaru had to leave his shoes behind since they were still stuck to the ground from the liquid chakra, He would complain about this the rest of the trip. Jako mumbled to himself a bit saying how the others were worthless and what not.

"Well now that that is taken care of, now all we got to do is find the statue." Shikamaru spoke out to the group.

"Oh, the statue is in Hinata-Chan's back pack guys." Naruto spoke still hanging from the tree.

"Oh Naruto, I forgot you were hanging up there." Kiba said scratching the back of his head.

"Yea so you guys want to get us down from up here!" Naruto yelled at the two

"I guess we may as well…" Kiba moaned as he and Shikamaru helped the two down. Once on the ground Naruto and Hinata sat up against one of the trees. This is when sleeping Hinata was always at her best as she snuggled into Naruto resting her head on his chest, draping her free arm over, hugging him. She was in her own little dreamland.

Kiba and Shikamaru snickered at this. "Gee Naruto didn't know you had and Hinata had started dating?" Kiba teased the blond. Naruto just shot him a sharp look as he sat there blushing red as Hinata readjusted herself into Naruto.

Kiba's attention then turned to Sasuke and Ino. He wanted to make a joke but felt the timing wasn't right with the condition Ino was in so he let those two have their little moment.

Kiba and Shikamaru were about to set off the pipe launcher to let Kakashi know where they were when he suddenly arrived onto the scene wanting a lot of answers. Kiba and Shikamaru gladly filled him in on everything that had transpired. He was amazed to find out that the three had done as he expected and took out the bandits but he looked over at the other three and was a little disappointed that they had come in contact with such a strong foe first.

Ino was beaten badly, Hinata was unconscious but it didn't seem that any harm came to her from the fight besides the orb joining her and Naruto's hands together. Naruto had a couple cuts in his shirt and some spots with blood from said cuts but all in all he was in once piece. 'Those three are gonna have a long ways to go if their competing in the Chunin exams in two weeks' Kakashi thought to himself.

After a little while the group started heading back. Kakashi, Kiba and Shikamaru escorting the three bandits they captured, while Ino road atop Sasuke's back as he insisted he would carry her back home. She peacefully accepted this and dozed off resting her head on his shoulder. Naruto and Hinata carried the statue back and we still stuck holding hands. Kiba made sure to get his pokes in on them while he could. The two mainly were quiet, blushing at Kiba's jokes but weren't comfortable talking about their 'kiss' just yet.

"Kakashi sensei what are we gonna do about this this" Naruto asked holding up the blue orb.

"I already talked to our friend about it" Kakashi motioned to Jako "He told me it would crumble away in a couple days.

"A couple days!?" Both Naruto and Hinata yelled in unison.

"How are we supposed to sleep!?" Naruto yelled

"How are we supposed to bathe!?" Hinata yelled fearfully "And how am I supposed to explain this to my father?" The two were having a mini stress attack at this news. Kiba was holding his side he was laughing so hard at this realization.

"Calm down you two. Hinata I will tell your father you are out on a mission with me and Naruto. And for the other part…. Well I really hope you two like each other." Kakashi said with an eye smile. The two blushed bright red as Hinata promptly fainted once again.

"Oh come on Hinata-Chan how am I supposed to carry you with one arm!?"Naruto begged the girl to awaken. "Guys got any help?" the rest of the group just laughed at his struggles. "Guys?!"

**End**

**A/N WELL HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED IT. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO REVIEW AND RIGHT NOW IM OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT SHOULD BE IN THE NEXT CH ABOUT HOW NARUTO AND HINATA DEAL WITH BEING STUCK TOGETHER.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: NOT REALLY ANY ACTION IN THIS CHAPTER JUST SOME FLUFF AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. SORRY IF IT'S NOT THAT INTERESTING IN ADVANCE BUT I LIKED IT.**

**Chapter 10: "About the other day…"**

Kakashi and company were just returning back to the Leaf Village, he didn't know how he should feel about the moment. He had to bring in three criminals that the two teams of genin had captured and fill out the paper work for it, but he and the six genin were going to get a raise in their pay, first it was going to get bumped up to a B-rank mission, and second they had caught a wanted missing nin who was in the bingo book. He also was enjoying the moment that for once his students weren't fighting and arguing, they were actually getting along great, he had prayed for this moment for months now, but he didn't want this moment to come at Ino's expense. The girl had been badly beaten by one of the criminals and was currently being taken care of by Sasuke who was carrying his teammate on his back. Then he also had Asuma's genin, Shikamaru was no problem, but Naruto and Hinata were fretting over their being literally stuck together at the hand. Kakashi did find it slightly entertaining though seeing them squirm.

Once the teams arrived at the main gate Kakashi addressed them of what his plans would be for the weekend.

"Ok team, I mean teams. You all did great on this mission so I'm giving you guys the weekend off." The six genin all looked pleased at this. "Team ten, come Monday you three are to report to training ground eighteen. You will be training with a friend of mine for the next two weeks." Kakashi grinned under his mask at this knowing they would be in for an interesting couple weeks. "Hinata I will inform your father that you and Naruto are on a mission with me during this time while two are stuck…" Hinata silently thanked the Jonin sensei for this "I'm just assuming you will be staying at Naruto's apartment in the meantime. And I want to remind you two to remember you are twelve and not to do anything that people who are older than twelve do."

Kiba started chuckling at this while Naruto and Hinata blushed embarrassingly getting what Kakashi was implying.

"Sasuke if you could make sure Ino gets home safely that would be great" Sasuke just nodded and started walking off still carrying Ino on his back. "I'll take these guys to the Hokage tower and check in. You all can go home and get cleaned up… Well except for Naruto and Hinata…" Kiba lost it at this as he broke out into full laughter.

"Oh come on sensei! They can help each other get really nice and clean now." Kiba joked poking fun at the two.

"Argh! Just shut up already Kiba!" Naruto scolded the Inuzuka boy while Hinata was turning a new shade of red from embarrassment.

"What's got you so mad? Most guys would kill for a chance like this. Why do you not think Hinata is pretty enough?" Kiba replied hoping to get a reaction out of the blond. Before Naruto said anything he looked at Hinata and saw her looking down at the ground. She never really thought of herself as pretty, she just always figured she was average. Naruto noticed this and he immediately wanted to come to his friend's defense.

"No! Anyone can see that Hinata-Chan is beautiful!" Naruto exclaimed not thinking about the meaning of what he had just said. At this remark Hinata's head shot right up and looked at Naruto with more joy than she could remember 'He just called me beautiful!' '**Hell Yea he did! Work it girl!**' Kiba and Shikamaru both raised an eyebrow at the response Naruto gave. It was more than what Kiba had wanted from him.

"Oh so you admit it you do like her!" Kiba accused the blond. Hinata was now staring intently watching for any facial tells Naruto would give. Naruto blushed slightly being put is such an awkward situation. He did like the girl, he was pretty sure he liked her more than a friend at this point, and if what Inari had said to him a couple weeks ago was true then that meant she liked him too.

"Well yea why wouldn't I?" Naruto replied trying to 'keep the ball in his court' on this little relationship they were forming. Hinata loved every second of this. Before Kiba would put her on the spot but right now he was focusing all his attention on Naruto and Hinata loved what she was hearing.

As this was unfolding Kakashi was slowly backing away tugging his new prisoners away with him. 'I'll just let them handle this…' He tried to tug Shikamaru away as well but the Nara boy was having too much fun at his teammates' expense.

"So why haven't you asked her out then?" Kiba asked with a wicked grin on his face.

"Fine I will! If that will shut you up!" Naruto declared. He then turned to Hinata and gulped. He had lost all control in this little game now because of this game Kiba had played him.

Hinata's heart was beating so fast she thought it was going to explode at this moment. 'Is Naruto-Kun really going to ask me out?! Oh god I'm not ready for this!' She thought to herself.

"Hinata do you want to uhhh… go out to Ichiraku's with me tonight?" Naruto asked sheepishly. Hinata was frozen for the moment. One of her biggest wishes was coming true, Naruto was asking her out.

"No you have to do it right" Kiba chided him not liking how he phrased it. He wanted to really make Naruto squirm. "Go on call it a date" Naruto gritted his teeth at this.

"Fine…" Naruto took a deep breath "Hinata will you go on a date with me tonight?" There he said it. The magic words that Hinata always wanted to hear.

"Yes!" Hinata said quickly realizing how load her voice was and then blushed. At this Kiba and Shikamaru shared a look then nodded.

"You really couldn't wait two more weeks to do this to them huh" Shikamaru said as he and Kiba both pulled out a piece of paper from their pockets. Shikamaru sighed as he saw that Ino had won their bet. Both Naruto and Hinata looked confused at this. "Hope you like wearing a dog collar for a week"

"Ahhh I lost a long time ago anyway, but how embarrassing is it going to be for you to have to ask out three girls?" Kiba smirked at him

"Hey what's going on here!" Naruto demanded. Kiba then handed him the slip of paper. Naruto and Hinata scanned it over quickly seeing the list of names on there with dates and punishments next to each name. Hinata's face turned bright red reading the title and seeing just how many people had bet on her love life.

"What you guys were betting on when I would ask out Hinata-Chan!?"

"No we were betting on when you would realize that Hinata likes you" Shikamaru spoke up. "And now thanks to Mr. Matchmaker here Ino won." As he motioned over to the grinning Kiba.

"Wait there is something wrong here…" Naruto started the others then looked at him curiously. Naruto continued looking at the list "I mean never mind I guess Ino won" Shikamaru and Kiba just shrugged then started walking off talking about all other's punishments for the little pool they had. Just before they were out of sight Kiba made sure to make a couple kissy faces at the two genin just to get under their skin a little more.

Naruto then turned back to Hinata. "It's ok you d-don't have to take me out Naruto-Kun. I know you w-were just sticking up for me" Is what Naruto expected Hinata to say…

"So you're paying for this date right?" Hinata said happily which took Naruto a little by surprise.

"Uhhh, yea I guess so…" Naruto said sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"Ok good!" Hinata replied and started leading Naruto away pulling on his hand that was still joined to hers. Naruto was still a little taken back by the sudden confidence in her and lack of stuttering.

The two went on to eat at Ichiraku's. While there Naruto told Teuchi about the mission and how they had gone up against a Jonin missing Nin and that was why they were stuck together. Teuchi listened closely being a former shinobi he could relate to the stories Naruto told him and would give him his opinion on the mission. He mainly just smiled and nodded his head proud of the blond.

"Well it seems that this mission was a success for you boy! You got the bad guys, and look now you got a girl because of it too." Naruto scratched the back of his head at this. "Anything else interesting happen on the mission?"

"Nah not really that I can think of off the top of my head." Naruto replied

"Well what about you Hinata? Anything big happen for you besides the hands thing?" Hinata thought about it for a second when something came to her mind.

"Well yea actually… kinda…" She said blushing, this got Ayame's attention as she wanted to hear what Hinata had to say, it had to be good with the girl blushing.

"Well go on Hinata." Ayame said trying to push the subject. Hinata blushed a little more and pushed her index fingers together.

"I kinda h-had my first kiss…" Hinata said as she snuck a glance at Naruto and still held the blush over her cheeks. Naruto blushed even more than she did realizing she was talking about with him. Teuchi had a giant smile come to his face, while Ayame had a small one on hers.

"Atta boy Naruto! Man Kushina and Minato would be so happy to hear of this." Teuchi said still smiling from ear to ear. Naruto looked confused at the older man.

"Minato and Kushina who are they?" The blond boy asked

"Your Parents, who else would…" Teuchi then realized what he had done. No one had told Naruto who his parents were or their names. He knew nothing about them and thought only the third really knew who his parents ever were.

"Look I'm sorry to have brought that up… It… It's forbidden of me to talk about it Naruto." Teuchi said remorsefully wishing he had never had the slip of the tongue

"Wait you knew my parents? How, what were they like, who were they?" Naruto wanted to know everything.

"I'm sorry Naruto buy I'm just not allowed to say anything about this to you. Maybe when you're older." Teuchi said his large smile had been replaced with a frown.

"Come on! They're my parents. I deserve to know something." Naruto tried pleading with the man but he wouldn't budge.

"I just can't Naruto. Just forgot I ever brought it up. Let me get you your bill it's getting late." Naruto took the hint that he was being kicked out. He had gotten kicked out of plenty of other stores in the village before and was ust to it but he never thought he would get kicked out of Ichiraku. This was the one place that treated him fairly and was kind to him. The only other people growing up that didn't instinctively hate him and here he was being told to leave. It was hurting him more than it would anyone else.

Teuchi returned slipping Naruto the bill as the blond just looked down saddened. Hinata saw this and put a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder. She looked at the bill and saw that there was nothing on it.

"Uhh sir you forg" She was cut off by the elder man

"Just go on, come back tomorrow you two. And don't forget to take you're bill with you." Teuchi said not turning around. Hinata then grabbed the bill as they left. The two walked out of the restaurant when something fell from the back of the bill. Both looked at it, Naruto bent down to pick it up. He flipped it over and was shocked to see a picture on the other side of a red haired woman to the far left, next to her was a tall blond spiky haired man wearing all blue with his arms around the red haired woman and a younger Teuchi who had both his arms around the blond and to his left a woman with black hair wearing her hair down, in a blue sun dress all smiling.

Naruto and Hinata were arriving at his apartment and walked inside. Naruto flipped the light switch on as they entered.

"Sorry if it's kinda messy, I never really have company over." Naruto said tossing his pack down on the floor next to the door. Hinata scanned the area; it wasn't that messy by any means, there wasn't really anything in the apartment to keep it messy. There were four chairs at the kitchen table a couch in the living room with a TV on a small table and just some ninja gear scatted about. Naruto then showed her around showing her where the bedroom was. But as he got to the next part things got a little awkward to say the least.

"Oh and here's… the… bathroom…" both looked at it for a moment as a realization came into their heads. They brainstormed for a while about this but the best they could come up with was to hang a bed sheet from the ceiling on both sides of the toilet making a makeshift public restroom. The two silently agreed to only go in emergencies.

The two passed the time the rest of the night playing some card games, and watching TV. It was a pretty simple night and everything was going fine until…

"Naruto-Kun…" Hinata said

"Yea Hinata-Chan?"

"I kind of… well…" Hinata squirmed a little and looked at the bathroom.

"Oh! Ok well we can do this" Naruto said fearfully. Let's just say this was easily the most awkward moment of their young lives. Naruto refrained from seeing anything but know what had happened right next to him still emotionally scarred the both of them for some time.

Later that night the two eventually decided to go to bed. The two looked at the bed still in their ninja gear. Naruto had taken his pants off and was in his boxers but the two weren't sure how to take their tops off without cutting them off and didn't see themselves getting a new shirt on easily. So they decided they would just wear them until this whole thing was over. They had been ust to sleeping in their gear for days at a time anyways with going on missions.

"Here I'll sleep on the floor and you can sleep in the bed so it's not weird Hinata-Chan" Naruto offered trying to make the situation as comfortable for Hinata as possible. Hinata insisted she would sleep on the floor since she was the guest but Naruto wasn't going to have it be any other way. So the two laid there in the dark for a while trying to sleep until Hinata broke the silence.

"Naruto-Kun…"

"Yea"

"Earlier today… when we fell off the tree branch… d-did you?" She wasn't able to finish the question as fear came over her.

"Did I what?" Naruto asked thoughtfully

"Do you wish this had never happened?" Both were quiet for a moment as Naruto thought of his response and Hinata anxiously waited.

"Hinata-Chan let's just say that I'm glad I wouldn't wish to be stuck to anyone else more than you. And that goes for everything that happened today." Naruto said honestly. Hinata sighed quietly.

Hinata smiled giddy at the statement Naruto made and then drifted off to sleep a few minutes later. Naruto however was awoken by Hinata when she subconsciously fell to the floor and on top of him. It was amazing how strong of a sleeper she was when she was out. Naruto was as rigid as a board as a blush filled his face. He didn't get much sleep that night with the situation he was in to say the least with her draped over him and snuggling into him.

The rest of the weekend went smoothly for the two. They mainly hung out in Naruto's apartment, talking, playing games, and watching TV.

Sunday morning

Sasuke walked over to Ino's house. He wanted to check up on her and make sure she was feeling better. Once he arrived Ino's mother was the one to answer the door. She recognized the Uchiha boy from Ino pointing him out plenty of times before whenever they saw him in public. She let him in and eagerly called up to her daughter Ino saying she had a visitor. She then showed Sasuke up to her room and let him in as she left the two alone.

Sasuke walked in expecting to see Ino but was a little let down when she just hid under the covers.

"Ino?" Sasuke asked a little confused and curious

"Oh! Hi Sasuke-Kun! What are you doing here?" Ino replied trying to sound as happy and cheerful she could while still hiding herself under the covers.

"I came to check up on you and see if you were feeling better…" Sasuke walked over to the side of Ino's bed.

"Oh that's really sweet of you but, I-I'm not feeling that well today," (cough cough) Ino faked "think I'll just sleep in." Ino said positively still under the covers.

"Ino can I talk to you?" Sasuke asked

"Yea of course what does it look like were doing silly."

"I meant face to face…"

"Oh pshhh what does it matter if we see each other. I don't even have make up on right now you don't want to see me like this." Sasuke had a caring look on his face as he silently reached over and grabbed the covers slowly exposing Ino who was covering her face with her hands. Sasuke dropped all the walls he had built up and was looking at Ino with a saddened expression seeing her like this like this. He then sat on the bed and grabbed her hands pulling them away from her face gently. This revealed the tears Ino was hiding, her right eye was still swollen shut and her face was still puffy and bruised with two cuts from the beating. She looked up and saw the care in Sasuke's eyes and for the second time ever felt like he truly did care for her.

"I'm sorry you have to see me like this…" she said sniffling "I know I'm ugly and look even more like a pig and…" She was cut off by Sasuke making a shhhing motion with his fingers. He then embraced her gently. Ino was shocked by the sudden care Sasuke was showing her and looked at him confused. She then rested her head on his chest as he held her. The two stayed like this for a couple of minutes until Sasuke broke the silence.

"You know Naruto finally asked Hinata out on a date." Sasuke said trying to change the mood. Ino's one good eye shot open at this as she leaned back from his chest.

"That means I won!" She exclaimed "Thank god I was going to have to never ask you out on a date again if I had lost!" she breathed a sigh of relief. "What did you bet?" Sasuke looked at her and spoke.

"I bet that if I lost I either had to ask you or Sakura out on a date…" Ino looked down at the mention of Sakura, 'There is no way he's gonna want to ask me out after seeing me like this.' Ino thought sadly to herself and wanted to suddenly cry again.

"So Ino" Sasuke said getting her to look at him again. "I was wondering if you would go out on a date with me?" Sasuke asked looking at the bruised up blond.

"I-I don't understand…" Ino said confused

"What's not to understand?"

"Why suddenly are you being so nice to me? I thought you always thought I was annoying."

"I ust to think that," 'And still do every now and again' He thought to himself "but after being on a team with you I started seeing how tough you were, and the other day when I saw that guy…" Sasuke gritted his teeth remembering what had happened "When I saw you being brave and refusing to sell out a comrade I don't know… It made me so mad that anyone would hurt you… and I never want to see anyone hurt you again." Ino started to tear up again at what her crush was confessing. "I want to always protect you Ino..." Ino then lunged into a full hug at the Uchiha boy.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!" Ino screamed she was so happy at what was happening. This was a dream come true for her.

"So when are we going out, sometime next week?" Ino asked eagerly. Sasuke had a small smirk come to his face.

"Actually I kinda already planned a little something for today…" Ino's look turned to slight sadness at this.

"I-I can't go outside looking like this!"

"We won't be outside that long, I made plans and I promise no one will judge you for how you look." Sasuke said trying to convince the Yamanaka to come out with him today. Ino was reluctant but eventually caved in. This was the first time Sasuke showed any interest in her and she just couldn't pass it up, even though she was reluctant about the letting people see her like this.

Sasuke waited outside as Ino got dressed, once she came out Sasuke smiled seeing the girl in blue sun dress with her hair down wearing a large pair of sunglasses to cover her eyes. He then put his arm out for her to hold onto, which she gladly grabbed a hold of. And off they went on their first date.

"Sasuke-Kun how long am I going be out in public for?" Ino asked still concerned of people seeing her in this condition. Sasuke just smiled at her and they started walking to their destination.

**Training ground 3**

Naruto and Hinata were sitting near the river that was on the edge of the training ground, sitting on a large sheet. The two were enjoying hanging out again. Earlier today they had gotten the liquid chakra orb off after it crumbled away. Hinata went home and quickly washed, and got dressed in her own sun dress. She wore her light orange one knowing it was Naruto's favorite color. Naruto had washed up too before he came to the training ground. He just wore a black t shirt with an orange swirl in the middle representing his Uzumaki clan, and some shorts. The two were sitting basking in the sun just enjoying the other's company.

"Hey Hinata-Chan" Naruto spoke out breaking the silence.

"Yes Naruto-Kun"

"You know how the other night I told you I wouldn't want to be stuck to anyone else rather than you?" Naruto said a little shyly. Hinata nodded her head smiling, remembering it.

"Well I was… wondering how you felt about it? You know, like if you would have rather been stuck with Kiba or Shikamaru?" Naruto asked bashful. Hinata gave the blond a sweet sincere smile.

"T-there is no one I would have or will ever want to be stuck with" She said smiling at him with a blush. Naruto returned the smile. He then reached over and gently grabbed her hand. Hinata looked down at the hand for a moment as a blush crept to her face. She then scooted a little closer to him to show her approval of his act.

"Well isn't this just cute" Sasuke said interrupting their moment. Naruto and Hinata both turned around to see Sasuke and Ino approaching their pick nick.

"I could say the same to you" Naruto replied seeing the two with their arms interlocked.

"Hi Ino, Sasuke" Hinata said smiling at the two.

"Took you long enough to get here, what is Kakashi sensei rubbing off on you guys?" Naruto teased.

"Someone took a little convincing, and took forever to get ready" Sasuke replied looking at Ino. She in return elbowed him in the side.

"So Naruto, I hear that you finally asked out Hinata." Ino stated looking at the pair holding hands.

"Why does everyone say finally?" Naruto asked with a confused expression

"Unreal, he's holding hands with the girl on a date and still clueless" Sasuke stated

"Yea Naruto we all knew for years, what took you so long?" Ino added on

"I don't know, she never said anything. You, Sakura and the rest of the girls were always chasing after Sasuke and just saying how you felt." Naruto said defending himself. The four then unpacked the lunch that Naruto and Hinata had prepared and sat down to a double date.

"So does this mean that you two are dating now?" Naruto asked looking at Ino and Sasuke.

"Well duh! What else would it mean?" Ino said before Sasuke could say otherwise. Sasuke just looked a little stunned at the sudden comment of their relationship.

"What? I never said this was a continuing thing!" Sasuke interjected

"Oh Sasuke-Kun stop lying to yourself, you can't deny it anymore! I have witnesses now!" Ino replied grinning at the Uchiha. Sasuke just gave her a smirk, she had won this time.

"What about you two? Are you two official now?" Ino asked turning the tables. Both Naruto and Hinata blushed looking at each other. Naruto was about to reply but was stopped by Hinata.

"W-well like you said Ino, w-what else would it mean" Hinata spoke up blushing and looking down, surprised at what she had just said. Naruto was surprised too, but after hearing her say that, he gripped her hand a little tighter to show his approval. Ino squealed at the cute sight but she knew her teammate Kiba would be disappointed if she stopped there. So she poked at the two a little more.

"So Hinata" Ino said getting the Hyuga heir to look up "What would you refer to Naruto as?" Hinata blushed

"M-My teammate…" Hinata said weakly knowing what Ino was pushing at but she wasn't sure if she could muster the words that she had wanted so long to call Naruto.

"Besides that!" Ino retorted narrowing her eyes telling Hinata not to dance around what she was getting at. Hinata's heart was racing again she wasn't sure how Naruto would react to the lable. Hinata gulped then took a deep breath.

"Well I-I guess h-he w-would…"

"She's my girlfriend" Naruto interjected seeing her struggle. Hinata's eyes were filled with pure happiness that he called her this. "I can't speak for Hinata-Chan but she's the only girl I want to be with" Naruto continued. Him saying this made Hinata happier than he would ever know. Hinata looked at him seeing Naruto giving a toothy smile back at Ino. Hinata then leaned over and kissed Naruto on the cheek.

Naruto turned a little surprised by the act. He looked and saw Hinata smiling at him in return with a red blush on her face. He couldn't help but smile back. Ino sighed at the cute sight. The four enjoyed the rest of their time together talking about training and other things for a couple hours. They eventually decided to call it and pack up. Hinata and Naruto started walking away still holding hands when Sasuke noticed something on the ground.

"Oh Naruto you… dropped… something…" Sasuke trailed off as he studied the picture he just picked up.

"Oh thanks Sasuke! I would have hated myself if I forgot that" Naruto said. It was the picture he had gotten from Teuchi two days prior. He still wasn't sure which of the women his mother was but he was positive the blond man must have been his father.

"Naruto" Sasuke said serious before handing the photo back. Naruto looked confused at the sudden serious tone in Sasuke's voice. "Why do you have a picture of my mother?"

**END**

**A/N WELL HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED IT, I KNOW SOME OF YOU DIDN'T LIKE THE LAST CHAPTER BUT I HOPE I CAN MAKE UP FOR IT IN THE FUTURE. PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IT AND GIVE ME SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE CHAPTERS. IM REALLY INTERESTED IN WHAT YOU THINK EVERYONE'S PUNISHMENT SHOULD BE FOR THE BET THEY LOST. KURENAI, KONAHAMARU, AND IRUKA I DON'T REALLY KNOW FOR SURE WHAT TO DO FOR SO SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE AWESOME!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Team ten was walking together to training ground 19. They were told to arrive at 6 am; Naruto and Shikamaru were not pleased in the least about this. Naruto wasn't a big morning person and Shikamaru just flat out didn't like doing really any activities but especially not this early.

"I wonder what this team that Kakashi pawned us off on is like. I really hope it's some laid back guy who just wants to sit around, stare at clouds, and maybe even take a nap." Shikamaru said to his teammates as they walked.

"I think you're still asleep dreaming Shikamaru" Naruto snickered "Hinata didn't you say that you're cousin is on this team." Naruto and Shikamaru's attention turned to Hinata.

"Y-yes, my cousin Negi" Hinata replied

"Do you know anything about the sensei?" Shikamaru asked

"Well, um… Negi has told me that he is different"

"What does different mean?" Shikamaru asked

"From what Negi has told me of him is t-that he is very energetic"

"Man. Why couldn't we just stay with Kakashi? He only made us do stuff when Naruto started trouble with Kiba and Sasuke." Shikamaru complained

"What do you mean I started trouble!" Naruto retorted quickly.

"You were constantly getting in arguments with them. And then I would get dragged into it."

"We didn't fight that much" Naruto grumbled "I think we actually started to get along there towards the end" Naruto defended himself honestly. All the members of the two teams had gotten along well later in the week. Kiba and Shikamaru loved to tease the others about their "significant other" even though Sasuke and Ino hadn't become anything until the week was already over, but they still would tease both of them. Kiba even started joining Shikamaru and Choji to hang out and watch clouds a couple times

Hinata and Ino didn't talk much during their week of training and mission but on the double date they did get along and make good conversation. Naruto and Sasuke though had a more interesting moment.

_Flashback to yesterday_

"_Why do you have a picture of my mother?" Sasuke asked seriously. Naruto looked at the picture that Sasuke had just handed back to him._

"_Wait which one of these is your mom?" Naruto asked urgently_

"_The one with the black hair you dobe." Sasuke replied "Now tell me why you have a picture of her."_

"_A friend gave me this picture the other day when he told me he knew my parents." Naruto's expression saddened thinking of the people he never knew. "Wait do you know who these people are?" Naruto asked pointing to the blond man and red haired woman. Sasuke studied the faces._

"_I recognize the woman, my mom had a bunch of pictures with her, and she said that they were really close friends but I don't recognize the other guy." Sasuke answered. Ino walked over and took a look at the picture that the boys were making a big deal over._

"_I would have never guessed your two's moms were friends" Ino spoke up. This got both the boy's attention as they started wondering if their deceased parents were close. Naruto wondered if Sasuke might have more answers about just who his were._

"_Hey Sasuke do you have any of those photos still?" Naruto asked looking at the Uchiha_

"_Yea back at the Uchiha compound"_

"_D-do you think I could see them?" Naruto asked hoping to learn more. Sasuke thought about it for a moment. No one had come to the Uchiha compound since the massacre four years ago, except for the Third Hokage. He didn't know how he felt about having company._

"_Sure I guess." Sasuke said figuring it would do no harm. Naruto then walked back to the Uchiha compound with Sasuke after they dropped their dates off back at their homes. Sasuke showed Naruto every photo of the red headed woman. On the back of a couple of the photo's Sasuke's mother would write the names of the people in them. Naruto now new that the red headed woman must be his mother seeing the name Kushina Uzumaki. It was clear that the two women were indeed close friends with many pictures of the two hanging out from time to time. Now Naruto wanted to know the identity of his father. He had the name Minato which sounded familiar but he just couldn't put his finger on it._

**Present **

The trio was now arriving at the training ground. They were surprised to see that there was already an all-out sparring match going on between three young teens with their sensei watching on and cheering like he was watching his favorite sports team in the championship game. Team 10 had arrived five minutes early; Shikamaru was sickened a little at how much intensity was going on this early in the day. As they approached the Jonin sensei he waved off the spar between his students and addressed the new comers.

"Ah more youthful spirits have arrived to help brighten the fire of youth!" The man in green clad jumpsuit stated in a boisterous voice. "I must say though I am a little disappointed in how late you are."

"We were told to get her at 6 and its only 5:55." Naruto argued.

"Yes late. I expect you to be an hour early to everything I assign. This will help give you the time to achieve even greater heights!" The Jonin sensei exclaimed. Team ten looked deadpan at the sensei. They looked to the other genin to see if this guy was serious. One of the genin that looked like a miniature version of the sensei seemed to have tears of inspiration flowing down his face while the other two looked to be embarrassed to be associated with the two green clan ninja's.

"My name is Might Guy by the way, the leaf's Green Beast" He then motioned for his genin to introduce themselves. The miniature Guy was about to speak with enthusiasm but was stopped by the female of the group as she violently smacked the fellow genin with a large pole.

"Hi, I'm Tenten" The girl said cheerfully ignoring the cries of pain in the back ground from her freshly beaten teammate. "Don't let these guys scare you, they come off a little strong but they'll grow on you." Team 10 stared in disbelief at this girl. How could she be so violent one moment and kind the next. 'She seems… nice' Hinata thought, 'the only one here I'm afraid of is you lady' Naruto thought, 'Reminds me of Naruto' Shikamaru thought sadly. The next to introduce themselves was the other quiet teammate.

"I am Negi Hyuga" was all he stated. It seemed he wasn't too eager to make new friends and it also seemed that he was glaring at Hinata from time to time which didn't go unnoticed by her teammates.

"And I am the leaf's handsome devil Rock Lee!" The miniature Guy said as he finally recovered from earlier. "I have no use of ninjutsu, or genjutsu, but I am determined to prove that I to can become a splendid Ninja with only taijutsu thanks to the guidance of Guy sensei and hard work!" Naruto and Hinata smiled liking the young man's motto. Shikamaru cringed at the sound of hard work.

Team 10 then went on to introduce themselves. After introductions were finished Guy addressed the genin.

"Alright then, now we can move on to the fun stuff! I want everyone to do 100 laps around the village and meet back here in two hours, we will work on taijutsu for a while then, and after that we will go to the Hokage tower to accept a mission. Once completed in record time we will come back here and finish up the day with extreme sparring." Guy announced in a happy go getter tone. Team ten chuckled at this, Naruto wiping some tears from his face.

"Oh that's a good one Guy sensei!" Naruto mustered out in between laughter. Guy just looked at the three with a confused look.

"You three better hurry up, knowing Negi and Lee they are probably half way done with their first lap." Guy said. Team ten turned to where Guy's team was previously standing seeing all three were gone.

"You can't be serious…" Shikamaru questioned afraid of the answer.

"You're absolutely right Shikamaru" Guy started as he reached into his pack "You three will need these too." He was holding a couple sets of leg weights. "This will help build up your speed and strength" Guy finished saying with a smile as he handed them to the genin. Shikamaru's heart was broken; he was convinced this would be the worst week of his life.

Later that day. Shikamaru, Naruto, and Hinata were all lying down in the grass of the training ground completely exhausted. They had done more work in this one day than they thought humanly possible. They had started getting accustomed to the short practices of Kakashi but this was nothing like those. It was like three days of work jam packed into one and they weren't even finished yet.

"No more, please god no more" Shikamaru begged

"My legs feel like they're going to explode" Naruto whined

"I don't think I can feel mine" Hinata added as the three lay there exhausted from the day's work. Negi grunted and turned his nose up as if he was ashamed of the three, but not one of them had the energy right now to deal with him. Tenten looked tired as she sat down resting while Lee was doing pushups.

"Alright now that all the easy stuff is done with we can start the sparring session" Guy spoke up as he approached the genin. Naruto and the rest of team 10 groaned at this wishing for it all to just be over. "Today's spar since we have new comers will be a six man free for all. Last man or woman standing will be the winner. The five that come up short will have to do another hundred laps around the village while the victor can go home following the spar." Guy announced in an excited tone.

"Guy sensei I will not let you down! If I fail I shall do 200 laps!" Lee yelled enthused

"That's what I like to hear Lee!" Guy replied proudly of his student.

"Please tell me your kidding" Shikamaru stated coldly. Guy and Lee just looked at him confused again.

"You know what Shikamaru, I like your style, nothing is ever hard enough for you and your always looking for a way to push me to help you work harder!" Guy said taking inspiration from Shikamaru's comment misinterpreting what the genin was getting at. "The first three to get knocked out will have to do their laps with extra weight on!"

"No you don't under." Shikamaru started but was cut off.

"Oh no I see what you're getting at! You don't want to be shown up by Lee, in that case I will personally run the laps with you if you fail to win the spar and I will be there every step of the way to push you to new heights!" Guy said enthused.

"You have serious problems don't you…" Shikamaru stated coldly again. Suddenly a genjutsu was cast over the area. Guy wasn't an expert at genjutsu but over the years he had learned one and mastered it. In an instant all the genin were on a beach, Guy walked over to Shikamaru and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I swear by all that is Youthful I will never give up, I will never rest until you have one day reached your dream and become the inspiration to all others youthful out there with your great flame of determination and perseverance! Water then crashed against rocks in the back ground "Shikamaru!" Shikamaru was weirded out by the whole display and he showed it just looking at the man like he had grown another head. Guy then looked at Shikamaru confused for a moment.

"What is there something on my face?" Shikamaru asked as he saw the man studying him.

"No it's just that… well when me and Lee do this… well he kinda yells my name passionately with youth back and all…" Guy replied sheepishly. This whole while Naruto and Hinata were looking on with just as much confusion as Shikamaru, Negi and Tenten were a little entertained seeing Guy get shot down, While Lee was seething at the mouth envious of this new incomer taking his sensei's praise. 'Let it be known I do not enjoy your ever youthful spirit Shikamaru Nara' Lee thought angrily to himself.

Once Guy and Shikamaru wrapped up their little moment the six genin took position spread out in the field. Shikamaru quickly studied the situation. 'The first four people get extra weight added on to their legs, Naruto and Hinata will probably team up so that doesn't work well for me. This Lee guy has been giving me bad vibes all day, and it looks like Negi and Tenten are planning on teaming up to take a couple of us down first. Dammit no matter how I plan this out, I'm either left with one of these new guys or doing the whole spar solo. There is only one option left. I have to end it all here…' Shikamaru thought darkly

"And begin!" Guy announced. Before Shikamaru could react he had Lee, Tenten, and Naruto all charging at him. 'Figures they would all see me as the weak link and easiest target' Shikamaru thought quickly before the three proceed to get entangled with him. Luckily for him Naruto didn't like the idea of ganging up on someone, especially his friend so he switched sides and quickly turned on the two older genin.

"Shikamaru lets do operation fire storm!" Naruto suggested as he barely held off on the taijutsu assault from Lee. One of the attack plays that team ten had crafted up.

"Naruto, we need Hinata for that you moron!" Shikamaru retorted while dodging kunai from Tenten.

"Just trust me!" Naruto pleaded with a raised eyebrow.

While the battle when on between the four of them Negi had charged strait for Hinata. Both were in a locked battle of gentle fist which seemed as though Negi was winning. Hinata knew that Negi was more skilled in the gentle fist than her and had hoped that her and Naruto might have teamed up to take out the more skilled user. Hinata decided she had to get out of this fight and try to keep it ranged. Once she was given an opening she did just that leaping back and started forming hand signs

"Fire style Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Hinata then released a barrage of fire balls at Negi who barely dodged a few being a little caught off guard from the new ninjutsu his cousin had learned.

"I see you have given up on learning the gentle fist, it makes sense destiny decided a long time ago that you would be nothing than a failure at this." Hinata was stricken by his harsh words. All her life she had been called a failure, she could do nothing right in her close ones eyes. Everyone that was precious to her was ashamed of her, 'everyone except Naruto-Kun, wait that's right, he doesn't see me as a failure' she thought positively to herself. Naruto had always supported her, more so once they became teammate, and now she felt new purpose feeling that she couldn't let down her new boyfriend. She may not win but as long as she gave it her all she would still be praised by the boy she loved.

"I-I won't give up Negi" Hinata said determined

"Well then you are indeed a bigger fool than I had already perceived you to be" Negi stated coldly as he then rushed in at the younger Hyuga.

Meanwhile

"I told you it wouldn't work you moron!" Shikamaru chided his teammate.

"What how was I supposed to know?" Naruto defended himself

"You're wind jutsu is complimented by Hinata's fire, that's why it had a larger area of effect against Zabuza!"

"Oh yea…" Naruto and Shikamaru argued as they both had gained new bruises and were currently pinned down by wires that were stuck into the ground.

"Naruto, Shika" Guy sniffled "Shikamaru, you two have been eliminated, start running your laps." Guy said as he motioned for Tenten and Lee to continue on in the sparring match, and proceeded to released Naruto and Shikamaru.

"Can't we watch the rest of the spar sensei?" Naruto asked.

"No, you must learn from your mistakes via hard work" Guy replied

"But!"

"But nothing get going! I'll be here to look after your teammate" Guy said as he turned his attention back to the sparring match.

Back in the spar, Hinata was still evading Negi trying to keep as much space between the two as she could but he was faster than her from all the training he had with Guy. After a little cat and mouse Hinata finally got enough space to start forming another hand sign but was cut off by kunai flying for her. She dodged quickly jumping out of the way canceling her hand signs.

"Common Negi we can take her out and then make it to the final two, I really don't feel like running with weights on" Tenten said standing in between the two.

"Tenten this is between me and lady Hinata, stay out of it" Negi interjected catching his teammate off guard. Almost instantly after he said that though Lee came flying into the frame.

"Leaf Hurricane!" Lee shouted as he was flying in with a round house kick towards Negi. Negi barely dodged it knowing full well how hard of a hit Lee could deliver. Tenten turn towards the two watching the taijutsu match take part between her teammates.

"I don't wish to spar with you right now Lee, so if you wou-"Negi was caught off when Lee landed a hard blow to the Hyuga's leg. Negi winced in pain but then entered his gentle fist stance to hold off the relentless assault.

Hinata finally saw an opening, the other girl's attention had drifted to her teammates and Hinata knew she had to take advantage of the situation. She quickly rushed over to Tenten and started turning off her chakra points. After immobilizing the arms and legs Hinata turned to Guy looking for approval that Tenten was defeated.

"Tenten start running your laps" Guy said to the fallen kunoichi.

"Guy sensei I can't move" Tenten sputtered out

"Oh yea, gentle fist, Fine you can take a moment to recover but once you do start running" Guy said scratching the back of his head. Tenten moaned annoyed at the lack of feeling in her limbs.

Now Hinata focused her attention back onto Negi. She finally thought that she had a better chance at beating the Hyuga prodigy now since she hoped maybe her and Lee could team up to take out the genius of gentle fist. Hinata charged in preparing to land a strike to Negi's chakra network while Lee continued his barrage of attacks.

Negi noticed this, he felt that this would happen, he just had planned on taking Hinata out sooner and not having to deal with the two taijutsu specialist out of the other five genin that were there. He would have to use a jutsu he had been working on but had not yet perfected.

"Rotation!" Negi let chakra flow out of him and began spinning at a high speed creating an almost solid protective sphere around himself. The jutsu wasn't perfected yet though and Hinata managed to get through it for a brief moment and hit one of Negi's chakra points in his leg, this would impair Negi a little, but not enough to take him down. Hinata and Lee were both sent flying back from the expanding chakra shield Negi hit them with. Both landed roughly on the ground staggering to get back up. As Hinata was still helping herself up Negi charged at her as fast as he could move.

"Eight Trigrams: 32 Palms!" Negi then started a barrage of attacks with his index and middle fingers shutting down a good chunk of Hinata's chakra points. Hinata was left speechless as she fell to her knees. Negi wasn't finished yet he saw blood and was ready to deliver more, he arched his arm back ready to slam his palm into Hinata's chest with chakra enhanced. This would severely injure the girl's internal organs. Guy saw this and was about to step in until he noticed Lee flying in with another leaf hurricane.

Negi was forced to use his arms as protection from the blow. He jumped back from the force and winced at the pain in his arms.

"Why do you keep interfering! This doesn't concern you!" Negi yelled to Lee. Lee just stared down the Hyuga prodigy.

"While that may be, she does not concern me in my true goal here." At that moment Hinata collapsed and fell face first to the ground from her knees. Tenten and Guy rushed over to her to inspect her over. Guy saw that there was a fair share of bruising and a lot of her chakra points were shut down. Negi had never used either of those techniques in a sparring session before. Guy feared that Negi would let this Hyuga family feud get the better of him but hoped that his student would restrain from anything uncalled for. And that final blow Negi was planning was not the kind you would use on a comrade of the leaf.

Tenten looked over Hinata with fear, 'Did Negi really mean to kill her?' Tenten thought to herself as her eyes turned to Negi who stood there angrily starting down the beaten Hinata with contempt.

"She's done, its now down between the two of you." Guy stated. Negi's eyes narrowed furiously glaring at the immobile Hinata. Negi mumbled to himself a bit cursing the main family's special treatment.

"I would suggest you focus your attention back to me Negi, I wish for us to have a most excellent spar" Lee spoke up getting Negi's attention back to him.

"Why do you even bother? You have never won a spar with me yet; fate has decided that I am the more powerful one while you are weak." Negi stated coldly "Look over there" Negi pointed to Hinata who was being treated by Guy and Tenten "that is what happens when the weak are foolish and try to fight fate. If you do not surrender I will be forced to do the same to you." Lee's didn't flinch at the comments Negi was making, he had heard this before and it didn't have the same effect on the boy as it once did.

"Well in that case, I will remain a fool until the day I die!" Lee declared "If there is one piece of advice I have taken to heart, it is that hard work can accomplish any goal. And my goal is to prove myself a splendid ninja and what better way to do that than beat you in battle?" Tenten and Guy looked on proud of Lee's inspirational words.

Lee then charged forward towards Negi. This approach assisted both of the two genin's fighting styles. Gentle fist was more of a defensive fighting style while Iron fist was more of attack heavy style. The two continued throwing blows at the other for a while. Lee making sure to dodge every counter attack from Negi knowing just one hit would dramatically slow him down. Negi though was starting to take a beating. He wasn't able to dodge every blow from Lee and had to absorb some with his legs and arms. He was still feeling the effects from when Hinata landed a strike to his leg earlier. He hated the thought of letting someone as weak as her land a single blow on him, a genius.

As the fight continued it seemed as though Lee had the upper hand. Negi was being slowed by each forceful blow that Lee would catch him with. Then Lee felt it was time to use his secret weapon. Lee dropped to the ground and caught Negi in the chin with a kick sending the Hyuga into the air. He was completely venerable to attack as he sailed in the air. Negi then sensed Lee behind him and saw the bandages on Lee's arms start to widen themselves around himself.

He had to stop the attack Lee was planning but he had only one option and it would hurt his chakra supply.

"Rotation!" Negi started spinning in the air with chakra flowing out of him. This caused Lee to be thrown away from the Hyuga and land violently on the ground. Negi was able to land smoothly thanks to the jutsu he just performed but this also left him low on chakra. Negi looked over to Lee who was barely able to pick himself up.

"Why do you continue to get up? What do you gain from being beaten?" Negi asked short of breath. Lee stood up shakily.

"I-I preserve my nindo. My ninja way. And that is to never give up" Lee then charged at Negi with everything he had left. Negi wasn't as badly beaten as Lee was after that blow and easily countered the attack shutting down some of Lee's points. Lee tried to get up but couldn't. Negi had successfully shut down his limbs.

"Fate decided the outcome of this match a long time ago. It was always destined that I would win and you along with the other losers would fail. There was nothing you could do to change that. Accept this and move on in life." Negi stated coldly turning his attention back towards Hinata.

Negi's words stung everyone that was there. Hinata and Tenten started questioning themselves and kunoichi. Lee laid face down in the dirt as tears started to creep out from him. He had loss and Negi had won, again. This just supported Negi's point reaffirming to Negi that he was right and destiny can't be changed.

**END**

**A/N: WELL I GOT A LOT OF REVIEWS AND P.M.S THIS WEEK AND THE ONE THING THAT EVERYONE SEEMS TO NOT MIND IS INO AND SASUKE'S RELATIONSHIP, OTHER WISE I'VE GOTTEN VERY STRONG OPINION'S ON NARUTO'S SOME OF YOU GUYS LOVE IT OTHERS HATE IT BUT O WELL CANT MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY I GUESS. NEXT CHAPTER IS GONNA BE THE LONG AWAITED RETURN OF ASUMA (**not a single person asked when he was coming back or requested he come back sooner. His feelings are a little hurt**) ANYWAYS FEEL FREE TO TELL ME HOW YOU FELT ABOUT THIS CHAPTER, THE STORY SO FAR AND WHAT YOU THINK WOULD BE GOOD IDEAS FOR THE FUTURE!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: HEY GUYS, I LIKE ALL THE REVIEWS I GOT LAST CHAPTER AND YEA I THINK I GOT THE MESSAGE LOL. SORRY BOUT SPELLING NEJI'S NAME WRONG IM A GOON LOL. WELL HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THE CHAPTER. THIS ONE IS BASICALLY JUST PRE-CHUNIN EXAMS. SORRY IN ADVANCE IF IT'S NOT THAT INTERESTING.**

**Chapter 12**

It was late Friday afternoon and Izumo and Kotetsu were watching guard at the main gate when they saw a couple figures approach the check in. As the figures came into view Kotetsu and Izumo gave a small grin at one that they recognized.

"Well it looks like you're finally back." Izumo said.

"Yea and I can gladly say mission accomplished." Asuma replied smoking a cigarette.

"And it seems that you have some company" Kotetsu spoke up motioning to another figure.

"What, you don't recognize one of the three legendary Sannin?" Asuma replied, Kotetsu and Izumo quickly straitened their posture in the presence of one of the greatest ninja to ever come out of the leaf.

"Common Asuma" the figure finally spoke up "I want to go get a drink before I see Hiruzen sensei, and you still didn't tell me what was so important as to why you dragged me all the way here"

"Trust me, my dad will explain everything. But why did you have to bring this girl with you here?"

"She is very valuable to me" the figure replied. Asuma shrugged his shoulders and walked away from the check in with the Sannin and their female company.

Training Ground 19

"Come on my youthful students we must continue our hard work to reach new heights in our goals of the fire of youth!" Guy exclaimed trying to motivate the three tired genin as they were doing pushups.

"Guy sensei isn't it time we call it a day?" Tenten spoke up hoping for it all to end.

"Nonsense! We must push ourselves so as not to let Shikamaru and his youthful friends don't pass us by, man does that kid have the will of hard work. I wish he had stayed the full week, he and his friends were just the youthful kind of spirits we needed around here."

"I too wish they would have stayed longer Guy sensei, I wanted to prove my hard work rivaled or even do I say surpassed that of Shikamaru!" Lee put in. Neji let out a small grunt.

"Why they were all weak. I saw no point in them to continue training with us; they would only get in the way." Neji added. The other three were quiet at his insensitive remark. The three knew that he was the reason why team ten refused to come back and continue training with them.

_Flashback Tuesday afternoon_

_The two teams of genin were running laps around the village once again as a "cool down" as Guy put it. Then suddenly Hinata collapsed._

"_Hinata-Chan!" Naruto said as he stopped to help Hinata get back to her feet. Shikamaru and Tenten stopped as well a few yards ahead of the Hinata and Naruto and looked on as the weakly Hinata shakily got back to her feet with the help of Naruto. Shikamaru then turned to Tenten._

"_Hey why is Hinata is such bad shape today?" He asked sternly at the girl. Tenten shaked her head remembering the spar from the day before. "I can understand you three ganging up on her as to help your chances of winning yesterday but from what I can see you guys went too far." Shikamaru stated narrowing his eyes at Tenten. Tenten's eyes filled with anger at the younger genin accusing her of being part of the reason for Hinata's misfortune._

"_I didn't have anything to do with this! Me and Lee didn't touch her the entire spar." Tenten retorted quickly._

"_Oh really then what did happen?" Shikamaru argued back_

"_Neji…" Tenten mumbled_

"_Why would he do this to his own cousin?" Shikamaru asked accusingly again. Tenten went on to explain the events of what happened yesterday, how Neji had lost control and would have continued his attack on Hinata if Lee hadn't been there. She also explained the situation between the main and side branches of the Hyuga that caused tension between the two families. Shikamaru didn't like what he was hearing and gritted his teeth. He and Naruto had been asking Hinata how the spar finished yesterday but all she would tell them was that it came down to Neji and Lee with Neji being the victor. Lee also didn't say anything about what happened and was just focused on the training for the day._

"_That's no reason for him to hurt Hinata though." Shikamaru said to Tenten with bitterness in his words._

"_Don't blame me! I had nothing to do with it." Tenten defended herself. With that Shikamaru rushed off continuing his laps. Tenten, Naruto and Hinata followed after with Naruto keeping close to Hinata to make sure she didn't collapse once more._

_A little while later the six genin reached the training ground to meet up with Guy to dismiss them. There waiting were Neji, Lee, and Guy._

"_Well that took you long enough" Neji remarked mockingly. Naruto, Shikamaru, and Tenten all glared at him to tell him to watch it. They had enough of his remarks for one day. "But what can you expect from failures; besides Tenten you all have handicaps that prevent you from reaching true potential." Naruto clenched his fist he knew something was up between him and Hinata, whenever he was around Hinata would lose the courage to talk or look up. And with him constantly putting her down this would irritate Naruto to no end. He finally had enough, just as he was about to say something he was caught by surprise along with everyone else._

"_Will you just shut the hell up already you dick!" Shikamaru yelled furiously at the Hyuga._

"_What I only speak the truth, but I can see how this offends people that are inferior to-"Neji was cut off when Shikamaru threw a punch and connected with the Hyuga teen's jaw. Neji was caught off guard by this, he expected the blond to lash out in violence but not the quieter Nara teen._

"_Shikamaru!" Guy chided the genin "There are no punches thrown at those of the leaf when not in spar!" Shikamaru grunted_

"_I don't care; a prick like this guy needs to learn when to shut his mouth." Shikamaru retorted standing firmly starring down Neji who was on the ground holding his jaw._

"_It's fine sensei, and if I may, I would like to excuse myself from these lower class wanna bes" Neji replied coldly_

"_Oh what you don't want to fight?" Shikamaru said clenching his fist_

"_No, it would be a waste of my time to spar with people of lower ranking."_

"_Really cause yesterday you seemed fine with beating my teammate when me and Naruto were gone!" Shikamaru was in full rage yelling his words at the Hyuga. Once hearing this Naruto's eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched._

"_Just what did happen yesterday! Hinata-Chan has been barely able to move today!" Naruto said frustrated. He looked to Hinata who didn't return the look and just stared down at the ground. Neji had a smirk come to his face._

"_If you are asking what is behind lady Hinata's poor performance today, it is a result of her being weak and not capable of protecting herself." Neji spoke up proud of his words and actions the day before. This now made Naruto want to slug him in the jaw. Guy saw this and decided to stop the situation before it got too out of hand._

"_Enough! There will be no fighting today! Now you all go home and cool off for the night. We will resume our training tomorrow morning." Guy stated affirmatively_

"_Forget that!" Naruto interjected "We don't want to waste some assholes precious time" He was looking at Neji "Common Shikamaru, Hinata-chan. Let's let the genius get his rightful training that he is soooo entitled to!" With that Naruto turned grabbing Hinata's hand to direct her to follow. Shikamaru spat on the ground and left with his teammates._

"_They needed to hear it sometime and its better they heard it now rather than later." Neji said to no one in particular while the rest of his team shot him looks of disappointment and anger. He ignored these and accepted that his team was still delusional._

In the meantime during the rest of the weak team ten practiced by themselves. Naruto finally got Hinata to tell him everything that happened during the spar once they left practice on Tuesday. That filled both Naruto and Shikamaru with anger, Naruto more so than Shikamaru. Naruto thought the rest of the weak if he had known Neji was behind Hinata's beating he would have done more than one punch to the jaw. But he was supportive of Shikamaru's action on his behalf.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto then formed nine clones of himself. "You guys ready?" Naruto asked looking to his teammates. Both nodded as they turned their attention to three practice dummies. "Beast Tearing Palm!"

"Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Hinata said as she and Naruto performed their jutsu, Naruto's coming from himself and his clones. The two jutsu combined and formed ten large blades of fire. Shikamaru in the meantime was imitating the position he would be in had he completed his shadow possession jutsu on the targets. The three targets were ripped apart and scorched by the combination of the jutsu.

"Well that went perfect." Shikamaru said proudly of the results.

"Yes, Naruto-kun your clones performed the jutsu very well" Hinata added

"Na, Hinata you're the one that has to line your jutsu up with mine. I just add to your fire." Naruto said smiling scratching the back of his head. Hinata and Shikamaru smile.

"You two should really come up for a name of that combo." Shikamaru suggested Naruto scrunched up his face thinking. If you didn't know him it looked like he was doing a difficult math question in his head. Hinata giggled seeing his face. She always thought it was cute when he made that struggling thinking face.

The three genin threw around different names and ideas for a little while. Naruto wanted to put Uzumaki somewhere in the name but Shikamaru thought for a jutsu to have ones name in it you had to create something very innovative and original, which combining two c rank jutsu's together didn't make it that powerful, at the most it was a high B rank. After a few minutes the group was startled by the arrival of one particular Jonin.

"Well I'm glad to see that you three haven't just been slacking off this whole while I was gone." Asuma said getting his genin's attention.

"Asuma sensei!" The three said in unison excited to have their sensei back. Asuma chuckled at their excitement. 'Ha they did miss me!'

"So what have you three clowns been up to since I was gone?" Team ten then started approaching him. As they did though Asuma noticed that Naruto and Hinata were walking up to him hand in hand. 'Shit…' He thought silently. "So you two seem rather close." Asuma said looking in Naruto and Hinata's direction. Hinata blushed from the remark.

"Yea Naruto finally asked Hinata out after a mission we went on with Kakashi sensei and his team." Shikamaru explained "You couldn't get them apart for at least two days after the whole thing" Shikamaru said teasingly.

"Well I can't wait to hear all about it. How's bout tonight I take you all out for dinner at the pit?" Giant smiles came to all their faces at the proposition of free food once again from their sensei. They had tried to get Kakashi to treat them but he just said he had to do other thing, such as helping the elderly which they all knew was a lie.

"Ok you three all go get cleaned up, I got to go to the Hokage tower to deal with some stuff and then I'll meet you guys there in like an hour." With that the four separated and left to get cleaned up a bit.

The Hokage Office

Asuma was entering the office and seemed to be sulking a little bit and mumbled something about cigarettes that the third couldn't make out.

"Asuma what took you so long?" The Hokage asked. Asuma lifted his head quickly.

"Oh I went to go check on my team quick, those little punks have been working hard it seemed to me." Asuma replied

"That's good; on another note I've seen that Naruto and Hinata have been quite close in your absence."

"Yea the two are now dating from what I got from them." Asuma said smiling happy at the thought. The Hokage had a grin on his face as well.

"From what Konahamaru has told me this means you now have to quit those cigarettes for a week." The Hokage said smiling. Asuma's mouth dropped a little. 'Damn those kids. One more week and I would have won.' Asuma started to groan but his and the hokage's attention shifted to the door that was opening with a figure letting themselves in.

"Ah it's good to see you again." The Hokage greeted the figure. "Now I have something important to discuss with you."

Later that night

Asuma and his genin were all sitting down enjoying a nice dinner that Asuma was treating them to at his favorite barbeque pit. He was asking them questions about what they had learned and practiced in his absence. He was disappointed to hear that they didn't get much training in their jutsu's and mainly focused on conditioning when with Kakashi and Guy briefly. But he also realized it was a lot to ask of Kakashi, to train six rookie genin.

"So just how did this happen?" Asuma asked pointing to Naruto and Hinata who were sitting on the opposite side of him and Shikamaru. The new couple was holding hands under the table and smiled when he asked. Hinata blushed a little, she was still shy, and she hadn't even told her family about it yet fearing the response her father and the elders would have. She knew that the elders didn't approve of Naruto but her father never talked about him.

Naruto on the other hand was very open about the relationship. He immediately told Iruka, Teuchi, and Ayame about it proudly. He was a little angry when Iruka confessed to being in on that stupid bet. He laughed though once he heard that Iruka had to pull three pranks on higher ranking ninja in the leaf. Something Naruto thought he always hated but turned out to be pretty good at them.

"Well it all started when we were leaving the land of waves and saying good bye to Inari and Tazuna" Naruto began. This left a puzzled look on everyone's face.

"What are you talking about, you and Hinata didn't go out until after the mission with Kakashi and his team" Shikamaru interjected. Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Well when we were leaving, Inari told me that he heard Hinata talking to Choji and heard her say she liked me." Naruto replied. Hinata was very confused at this. 'I never told Choji I liked Naruto?' She thought to herself silently. She would have to talk to Naruto later about this but she figured she would let it slide for now.

"So wait you're saying that you knew Hinata liked you back then?" Shikamaru asked, Naruto nodded confirming his question.

"This means Choji won the bet." Shikamaru chuckled to himself "The poor guy has been starving himself all week thinking he lost." The whole table laughed thinking about the Akimichi boy who was going through hell all week at the lack of food.

"But Naruto-Kun" Hinata said "If you knew I liked you why didn't you ask me out sooner?" Naruto sweat dropped a little at this fearing if he said something wrong he would be in a new world of trouble.

"I'm sure he wanted to" Asuma spoke up throwing Naruto a helping hand. "He's never asked a girl out and just didn't know how to do it properly"

"Well that makes sense" Hinata said smiling. Naruto sighed in relief silently thanking his sensei for saving him there.

"Now there is something important I want to discuss with the three of you." Asuma stated getting his genin's attention. He then handed them all a form "Nine days from now are the Chunin Exams, and I have requested that you all be permitted to take place in them, you don't have to if you don't feel like you're ready but" He was cut off by all three quickly handing him the forms already signed.

"Well in that case, starting tomorrow I'll resume training you three." Asuma said proudly "Be ready though, I'm not going to go easy, you still have a lot to learn in the coming days and I plan to make the most of it. From what I hear Kakashi and Guy are going to enter their teams and I'm pretty sure Kurenai is going to enter her team too." Asuma noticed that Naruto and Shikamaru stiffened up at the sound of Guy. He knew something must have happened to make it so Guy stopped training them and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"Oh that reminds me, just what did you do to make Guy refuse training you?" Asuma asked noticing the frustration building in two of his genin.

"We didn't do anything! We didn't want to hold back Mr. Fate" Naruto shot back. Asuma looked puzzled at this.

"We weren't learning anything really there; he was just making us do a lot of conditioning and stamina training anyways." Shikamaru added. Asuma knew there must have been more to this but didn't want Naruto to make a scene so he dropped the subject.

A few minutes later the group was surprised by Kurenai approaching their table. The table greeted her happily; they had all gotten along on their mission in the land of waves. The genin did notice a purple haired woman standing not too far away giggling while watching Kurenai stand at the table.

"Hey how are you all doing?" Kurenai asked, but something was off about her. She seemed as though she was even nervous.

"Were doing good, so what can we credit to you visiting us?" Asuma asked. Kurenai gulped.

"Hey uhhh Asuma can I ask you a question?" Kurenai asked nervously

"Yea sure" Asuma replied

"Well uhh its kinda personal question…"

"Oh common, these kids are cool, they won't judge you" Asuma replied. At this Naruto and Hinata saw that the purple haired woman was keeled over holding her gut in laughter.

Kurenai looked at Asuma's genin, her eyes locked onto Naruto and Hinata, mainly Naruto. 'You're the reason I'm in this mess you little punk. Couldn't wait a little while could you.' Kurenai thought to herself bitterly. She sighed and took one more deep breath.

"Asuma, do you want to get dinner some time…" Kurnai blurted out and then trailed off. Asuma's eyes widened at this as a small smile crept onto his face.

"You mean like a date?" Asuma asked innocently, he loved to mess with his former teammate. He had always had a bit of a crush on her but never thought she felt the same so he left the matter alone. Kurenai's face turned even redder at the word date.

"Yea, I mean if you're not too busy." Kurenai said sheepishly, fearing rejection and embarrassment. Asuma had a smirk on his face seeing her sweat like this. Here was a woman that would put men through their worst nightmares and slit their throats while under the trance but when it came to asking someone out she fell apart.

"Yea how about sometime in the next two weeks after the first two rounds of the Chunin Exams?" Asuma replied releasing Kurenai of her torcher. Kurenai was stunned at the response she got for a moment. She couldn't believe how simple Asuma made it sound as though it was no big deal. This helped Kurenai calm down a bit.

"Uhhh yea sounds good to me; I want to teach my students a few more jutsu this week." Kurenai spoke up still a little surprised by Asuma accepting her date.

"Yea I gotta get these little brats into shaped too. Apparently they didn't enjoy training with Guy too much." Asuma said to hopefully lighten the tension. Kurenai chuckled knowing that Guy had a reputation for coming off strong on new people. Kurenai then made her exit after saying good bye. Team ten then went on to enjoy the rest of their dinner in peace, joking around with one another.

A bit later team ten made their leave from the restaurant, Shikamaru and Asuma walked separately from Hinata and Naruto. It was late out and Naruto wanted to walk his girlfriend home.

The new couple walked together back to the Hyuga compound hand in hand. Both enjoying the moment. But Naruto was oddly quiet and Hinata noticed this.

"Naruto-kun?" She asked. Naruto turned his attention to her.

"Yea?"

"You're really quiet tonight."

"I've been thinking about something…" Naruto said nervously.

"What is it? Maybe I can be of some assistance." Hinata replied wanting to help the blond in whatever was troubling him. Naruto smirked at Hinata.

"Actually you are the only person that can help me with this. But we need to go somewhere first." Naruto said smiling as he started to lead Hinata off in a different direction. Hinata wondered where Naruto was taking her. They were going the opposite direction of her home now.

After a brief walk Hinata and Naruto found themselves just outside of the academy. Naruto continued to hold firmly onto Hinata's hand and led her over near the swing that was under a tree.

"N-Naruto-kun, why did you bring me all the way over here?" Hinata asked genuinely curious.

"Do you remember this spot?" Naruto asked motioning to the other side of the tree that held the swing.

"Yes, we trained here plenty of times when we were still in the academy."

"No I'm talking about the graduation day, when you came over and checked on me." Naruto replied his smile never leaving his face. Hinata did remember that day. She was so proud of herself looking back on it. That was the day that she got the courage to finally approach Naruto and talk to him.

"That day, I was so sad. I felt like I was a total failure, but then you came and told me you believed in me. That meant so much to me and still does. That was the day we became friends Hinata-Chan." Hinata blushed and felt good that she had done something so meaningful in his life.

"And I just feel like this should be the spot that we do this." Naruto said

"What are we-"Hinata was cut off by Naruto's lips touching hers. 'N-Naruto is kissing me!' She screamed in her head joyfully. She knows that she has said this a lot in the past couple months but this was the happiest moment of her life.

Naruto then pulled away after a moment and grinned from ear to ear at his girlfriend. She smiled back kindly though she did wish the kiss had lasted longer, but she was on cloud nine right now, after sharing her first kiss with the boy she loves. The two stood there for a while enjoying the moment, trying to burn the memory into their minds forever.

**Meanwhile Elsewhere**

Three figures stood in the street of a small village surrounded in utter quietness. There were bodies lying all around the street freshly slaughtered.

"I'll be honest I'm rather impressed" a male voice said with amusement at the carnage. This came from the largest of the three who had a large sword hanging on his back. "You keep this up kid and you might even give Itachi here a run for his money"

"You did well. Now we must move on. It would be very bothersome if we had to deal with the anbu of the cloud village." The other figure who was referred to as Itachi spoke up. The last figure turned around to the other two.

"Oh come on Itachi, the kid is a natural at it; I can see why Zabuza kept him around." The larger one spoke up again. "I mean it takes some serious blood lust to butcher an entire village" The figure grinned thinking about all the harm the people went through.

"I do not do this for pleasure… I do this to help fulfill my purpose." The third spoke up.

"And do you care to enlighten us what this purpose is?" The largest of the three asked. The third smallest one had a large grin come to his face.

"I must show this world what true love is… Unlike you Master Kisame, you never let anyone close to you your whole life. You never truly cared for someone. I and Master Itachi have had someone precious to us and in a brief moment we had those people ripped away from us. And in that moment you realize what true love is." The figure said almost happily.

"Enough. Let's be on our way now." Itachi ordered as he started walking away from the scene.

"I've been trying for years to get under that crow's skin, but you seemed to have pinched a nerve already. I'm really starting to like you." The third figure called Kisame said to the younger boy as they soon followed Itachi off into the night.

**A/N: WELL THERE YOU GO; HAKU IS STILL BEING CREEPY AS HELL. FOR THE CHUNIN EXAMS MAINLY PART TWO IM STUCK ON HOW I WANT TO DO IT. MAINLY IN PART 2 OF THE TEST. I HAVE THREE DIFFERENT SENARIOS THAT I'M THINKING OF GOING WITH. SO COMMENT AND VOTE FOR WHICH ONE OF THESE YOU THINK I SHOULD DO. ANYWAY NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE PART ONE OF THE CHUNIN EXAMS, TIL NEXT TIME YOU LEGENDS!**

**EVERYONE MAKES IT THROUGH BASICALLY SAME AS CANON (BORING BUT SAFE)**

**A MAIN CHARACTER DIES… THIS RESULTS IN ONE OF THE TEAMS NOT MAKING IT THROUGH TO THE THIRD ROUND. I ALREADY HAVE THE CHARACTER PICKED OUT AND ALL IM GOING TO SAY IS THE CHARACTER IS NOT NARUTO, EVERYONE ELSE IS FREE GAME. (NEJI, TENTEN, LEE, HINATA, SHIKAMARU, SASUKE, KIBA, INO, CHOJI, SAKURA, SHINO, GAARA, TEMARI, KONKURO)**

**A CHARACTER FROM THE CANON DIES, NOT ONE OF THE GENIN, ALL TEAMS MAKE IT THROUGH. (TRUST ME WHEN I SAY YOU ALL WILL HATE ME IF YOU PICK THIS ONE)**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Well guys I'm excited to say that this story has now reached 100 followers! I really appreciate all the feedback you guys leave me and the complements motivate me to get these chapters done for you guys faster. So in short I would like to thank you all.**

**Chapter 13**

"Come on, you have to control your chakra better Naruto!" Asuma scolded loudly. Naruto and the remainder of his team were too out of breath to reply. "And Hinata, that jutsu needs more power behind it. Come on guys, the exam starts tomorrow, we need to get this combination down! Now run it again!" Asuma barked out in an authoritative voice.

Naruto, Shikamaru, and Hinata all groaned while catching their breaths. They then readied themselves to perform the combo once again. All week had been like this, constant hard training. Naruto and Hinata both learned a new jutsu but hadn't mastered it yet. Asuma being the creative one picked out two jutsu that he felt would go well together. While they were learning the new techniques, Asuma was teaching Shikamaru some of the finer points in strategy when leading a team. One thing that Asuma stressed was when in hostile territory never let someone go off alone, it puts just too much risk to the rest of the team and especially that person.

Kurenai and her genin were hard at work as well. Right now she had Sakura and Shino sparring on the lake that bordered their training ground. She felt that her genin had better chakra control than most; Choji was still struggling with it, while Shino and Sakura seemed to have mastered it.

Choji and Kurenai were spectating the spar, from what they saw it was pretty even but Sakura had a slight advantage. She moved perfect on the water, she had truly mastered walking on water. The two continued to spar until in Shino's point of view the lake turned to acid and his bugs were being killed off by it. Shino collapsed to the water and started sinking when Sakura dispelled the genjutsu and rushed over to help her teammate.

"I'm so sorry Shino! I didn't mean for it to have that great of an effect!" She apologized remorsefully. Sakura then carried her teammate to the shore with his arm hanging over her shoulder for support as he came back to the real world.

"That was very good Sakura, I have no doubt that you will do great in the Chunin exams. You too Choji and Shino."

"I don't know Kurenai sensei" Choji spoke up "I'm just not as good as Sakura or Shino…" Choji said sadly feeling like he was his team's weak link.

"Choji, do you remember why I selected you to be on this team." Kurenai said smiling. Choji looked up to his sensei. "I picked you to be on this team because I believed that you were the best one to keep your teammates Sakura and Shino safe. I could have picked Sasuke, Kiba, or Naruto, but I knew that you were the best choice for this team because of how much you care for your teammates and instinctively want to protect them." Choji turned his attention to his teammates that Kurenai was referring to.

He was greeted with a reassuring smile from Sakura and a nod from Shino confirming his sensei's words. This relieved Choji, knowing that he had people that trusted their lives with him.

"Thanks guys. I promise I won't let anything bad ever happen to you" Choji said with new found confidence.

Team 7 training ground

"Kakashi put that book down and teach us something already." Sasuke scolded his sensei. Kakashi didn't acknowledge the genin's remark and just kept reading knowing it was that time of the day again. 'Any minute now.' Kakashi thought to himself.

"Sasuke-kun, why do we have to train so hard, and when are we going to go on another date, now that I'm back to looking beautiful again I bet you can't wait to show me off to the rest of the village!" Ino nagged as she started day dreaming about a romantic date night with Sasuke.

"Gee I wonder why…" Kiba grumbled under his breath to Akamaru. Akamaru replied with a yip.

"Hey what did you say dog breath!" Ino yelled

"You keep nagging him all the time I'm surprised he can still stand you!" Kiba barked back

"Sasuke-Kun adores me!" Ino retorted "He even said those exact words to me the other night" Ino said dreaming back to a couple days ago when she and Sasuke shared their first kiss. She thought it was a romantic moment, but from Sasuke's point of view it was her forcing herself upon him when he said one too many nice things.

"I don't have time for this." Sasuke groaned as he started making his leave from the training field.

"Wait where are you going Sasuke-Kun?" Ino yelled after him.

"I'm going to go train with Naruto again" Said back as he was disappearing from view. He and Naruto had been pushing themselves harder ever since they heard about the Chunin Exams and had started training together after their team training ended. They both started getting along better ever since they found out their parents were such good friends, but something that still bothered Sasuke was what the old ramen guy was doing with two female Jonin and the blond man that was presumably Naruto's father.

The next day at the academy

Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata were arriving at the place where the Chunin exams where to be held. They walked up the stairs to the second floor and were surprised to see a large gathering of people there when they were told that the testing area would be on the third floor.

"Naruto-Kun, Shino, I can see that they put a genjutsu on the area to make this appear as though it is the third floor" Hinata whispered to her teammates. Shikamaru motioned for them to just keep walking and let the rest fail. But Naruto stopped once he saw Tenten and Lee get pushed back by two older looking genin. He also saw Neji and wanted to get a little poke in on the jerk. Naruto took a few steps out into the hallway but stopped once he saw Sasuke expose the genjutsu to the rest there.

Then Sasuke started talking to Neji and his team. Naruto wanted to go over and join in but Shikamaru started tugging at his shirt and forced Naruto to follow. Once up the stairs Naruto and team walked down the hallway but were surprised to see Kakashi waiting just in front of the door.

"Kakashi sensei what are you doing here?" Naruto greeted the grey haired Jonin.

"Oh I was just waiting to wish my team good luck; you guys can go right in." Kakashi replied. Team ten then passed by him and entered the room. They were shocked at how many people there were already waiting in there.

"Awe man I didn't think there would be this many taking the test this year, what a drag." Shikamaru complained.

"Hey Naruto!" a girl's voice called out. Naruto and team turned to see it was Sakura who called out and was walking over to them with her team close by.

"Oh hey Sakura-Chan what's up?" Naruto replied casually

"It's been so long since we've seen each other what's new with you?" Sakura asked trying to make small talk.

"Not much just a lot of training" Naruto replied, this earned him a nudge of the elbow from Hinata. "Owww! What was that for Hinata-Chan?"

Sakura's eyes narrowed at the small punishment towards Naruto. 'If anyone is gonna beat Naruto-kun it better be me!' Sakura thought angrily to herself.

"Don't you think you're forgetting something important Naruto" Shikamaru teased

"Oh that's right, me and Hinata-Chan started dating since we were on that mission with you guys." Naruto said correcting himself. Hinata smiled again hearing Naruto make it known that they were now a couple. Choji and Shino grumbled hearing about the bet that the two lost, Choji unfairly.

Sakura though was hurt upon hearing this. 'What?! What does she have that I don't!? I was always more popular, my grades were higher, and Naruto was always chasing after me! He must be tricked by her somehow.' Sakura thought to herself in denial. Naruto was about to speak again to break the sudden silence that was hovering over them but before he could they noticed the next team that walked in.

"Naruto, Hinata," Lee greeted enthusiastically "and Shikamaru…" Lee mumbled sourly. "It is good to see you all again!"

"It is good to see you as well lee, and you too Tenten" Hinata greeted kindly.

"So you guys are taking the Chunin Exams too ehh?" Tenten asked

"You better believe it; we've been working our butts off the last two weeks." Naruto spoke up

"Ehh it wasn't that hard…" Shikamaru added in

"That's because you didn't have to learn the stuff me and Hinata-Chan did!" Naruto retorted as Naruto and Shikamaru argued over how tough the training was Lee was staring daggers at the latter. 'I will not let you pass me by Shikamaru. I will prove to Guy sensei and everyone else that I am the true master of hard work!'

Lee came out of his daydream once Neji walked into the frame. He let out a grunt then walked past the six rookie genin and his teammates.

"We better go find ourselves some seats. Tenten, Lee." Neji said before Lee and Tenten left to find their seats. Naruto and Shikamaru scowled at the sight of Neji once again. Not hiding their true feelings of the guy one bit.

"How those two work with a jerk like that is beyond me." Naruto stated. Team eight was confused by the sudden hostility from Naruto and Shikamaru once the previous rookie of the year walked by. Sakura was about to ask what it was all about but was interrupted by a certain voice that she hadn't been fond of recently.

"Hey, Hinata, Naruto, Shikamaru! What's up guys?" Ino exclaimed excited to see her friends. Team ten and seven greeted one another glad to see the other. It was clear that between the teams ten and seven had spent more time together and really got along with one another. This started making the members of team eight feel left out. Choji not so much since he was still hanging out with his best friend Shikamaru on a regular basis and he also started hanging out with Kiba recently.

Shino didn't care that much. He was never big on the social aspect and just figured it didn't mean that much. Sakura on the other hand was strait up confused at the friendly atmosphere. 'When the hell did Sasuke ever start talking to Naruto and for that matter Ino talking to Hinata? This isn't making any sense.' Just when Sakura thought she couldn't be more surprised she noticed that Sasuke and Ino were holding hands. 'What!? Ino actually got Sasuke to acknowledge her?'

Sakura was finally taken out of her disbelief trance when a silver haired older boy approached the group and advised them to be quieter. Ino and Naruto were quick to tell him to mind his own business. The boy then introduced himself as Kabuto. He was about to pull out some ninja info cards he had made but was interrupted by a loud bang in the front of the classroom.

"Pipe down you degenerate brats! I am Ibiki Morino, the first part of the Chunin Exams is about to begin. Come to the front and take a number, this number will arrange where you will be seated." The tall man in all black stated affirmatively to the large room full of genin. One by one everyone went to the front to pick out a number. Once everyone had them Naruto began to scan his surroundings. He couldn't see Shikamaru or Hinata and began to worry a bit. He was taken out of his worry when he heard Sakura's voice.

"It's ok Naruto; you got me here with you." Sakura said with a smile.

"Yea it's kinda cool that we got put next to someone we know." Naruto replied 'He thinks it's cool that we got to sit next to each other!' Sakura thought to herself.

Meanwhile a couple rows back Hinata was starring daggers at the pink haired kunoichi. She got the vibe that Sakura had a crush on Naruto and wasn't pleased in the least that she was sitting next to him. She stopped her death glare for a moment to realize that she had been acting different lately. 'Hmm maybe Naruto-kun is rubbing off on me.' She brushed the thought aside to continue her glare when the proctor addressed the group and began going over the instructions to the first part of the exam.

Once the proctor told them that it was a written exam and that to pass the scores of the three would be added up. Hinata's face fell deadpan hearing this. She had done above average in the written part of the academy buy also knew that Naruto and Shikamaru had the two lowest scores.

Once the test was handed out the proctor began going on about how there was to be no cheating and if caught you would lose two points. If you were caught five times that called for dismissal of the offender and his or hers teammates. After a little while Shikamaru was struggling on the test. 'They can't actually expect us to get these right. These are borderline genius level questions.' Shikamaru then saw one of the proctors write down a name. 'Well someone just got picked off… and what's up with that? The proctor spent more time explaining not to cheat than the test itself.' Shikamaru then realized that the test was actually to see how well each person could gather information under the toughest conditions. He then hoped that Naruto and Hinata would catch on.

Naruto was freaking out, twenty minutes had passed and he hadn't written anything down. His nerves were growing as he watched the clock tick away. With every minute that passed he was closer to letting his teammates down and holding them back. He was suddenly brought out of his panic state when Sakura nudged him.

"Hey Naruto." She whispered to him. Naruto turned his attention to the long pink haired girl. "If you want, I could let you copy my answers." Naruto was stunned by this. Not once when they were in the academy had Sakura helped him with any of the homework let alone allow him to cheat on a test. He thought this must be too good to be true. The smartest girl in class letting him cheat off her. He thought it must be a trick.

"Sakura..." She turned her head to him "Why would you let me cheat of your test?" he asked honestly. Sakura got nervous at this and blushed a little.

"Well… it's just that uhhhh…" She gulped "I-I wouldn't want you to leave." She said shyly. Naruto was even more confused at this. Sakura's attitude towards him had changed recently but this was a total 180. Sakura then quickly came up with an excuse

"I just think it would be nice if all us rookies made it through to the next round" She said still blushing. Naruto accepted this and nodded to agree that it made sense. Sakura who had already finished the test slid her sheet to the other side of her arm to make it easier for Naruto to read. Naruto then leaned in to get a good look but quickly stopped when he heard a kunai wising in the air. He froze in fear once it hit the desk right behind him.

The rookie whose test was just struck with the kunai was in total fear from what had just taken place and froze nervously looking around and breathing heavily.

"That's five time." One of the Chunin proctors said proudly "You and your team are eliminate, now go." The genin caught cheating pleaded remorseful to his teammates apologizing. His two teammates stood up and quietly excused themselves, with bitterness emanating off of their silence.

Naruto turned back around and gulped sweating from the close call he just had, thinking he was the one caught. Sakura then nudged him.

"Naruto, here, be careful" She whispered to the blond that she now admired.

"Na its ok Sakura"

"What, but"

"I don't want to risk get caught cheating and I wouldn't want to get you in trouble too" Naruto whispered to her. Sakura silently gasped at this 'He does care about me!' She thought to herself and couldn't stop from a blush coming to her face. Meanwhile Naruto was crying on the inside 'When did I decide to become so noble' He thought to himself sadly kicking himself for turning down such a good opportunity.

Suddenly Naruto was taken out of his self-pity when a familiar rigid feeling took over his body. Shikamaru had performed his shadow possession jutsu to take control of his teammate at this time, Naruto knowing it was his teammate willfully moved accordingly. Shikamaru manipulated Naruto's body and started writing down the answers that he believed to be correct.

'Way to go Shikamaru! That's using that big brain of yours!' Naruto cheered in his head.

The test time was ending soon and all members of team ten had completed their test, Naruto thanks to Shikamaru. Ibiki scanned the room and saw that he had managed to only eliminate about forty of the participants. He had to thin the heard a bit more to make it easier on the next proctor and he knew that the tenth question would do just that.

"Alright you maggots, it's now time for the tenth and final question." Ibiki announced to the room. "I will warn you now; you have a choice in taking the tenth question." Ibiki smirked at the confused looks that filled the room. "For this question if you get it right you pass, but if you get it wrong I am baring you from ever taking the Chunin Exams again!" Many in the crowd gasped at this. Kiba shot up furious.

"This is total BS! Plenty of people here have taken the test before and they didn't get banned!" Kiba yelled out. Ibiki's grin grew at knowing he was getting under all their skins.

"Well I guess you could just call yourselves unlucky that you got me for the first part of the exam." He stated smugly. "Now if you would like to withdraw now is the time.

Slowly genin started raising their hands withdrawing and feeling disgraced letting their teammates down because of their own fear. The members of team ten didn't waiver though. Naruto and Hinata were confident in that their teammate Shikamaru was smart enough to answer the question and would pass the answer on to them.

Team seven was a little worried but all three of them had found effective ways to cheat during the test and felt that they had a good shot at passing. Team Guy and Team eight were confident in their own abilities to answer the question; they didn't rely much on cheating during the test and were sure they were ready for whatever it could be.

As the time went by more and more teams started backing out. The twelve main leaf genin remained strong though and didn't look like they would crack any time soon. After a few minutes Ibiki counted how many were left.

'Only 45 remain… I think I did pretty well if I do say so' Ibiki thought cheerfully, happy that his test was a challenge.

"Ok it looks like everyone who is here is willing to risk it all to become Chunin." Ibiki addressed the room that was now looking a little empty. "And I now can say that you all have passed the first part of the Chunin Exams!" Ibiki said as his mood lightened. Almost everyone's mouths dropped at this.

"What!? Then what you're saying is that the last nine questions were a waste of time!?" A blond haired Kunoichi from the sand yelled from near the back of the room. Ibiki laughed at the outburst.

"No, on the contrary, that tested how well you all could gather information under the most pressured situations"

"Oh well that makes sense… I guess" The blond replied accepting the answer.

"But what about the ten question?" Sakura now spoke up

"The tenth question you could say was the choice you made of to take to question. It was a no win situation, the kind of situation and choice that Chunin need to make every day out in the field. As long as I'm around there will never be a coward who betrays his comrades that can call themselves Chunin." Ibiki replied inspiring the young crowd and making them feel proud of what they had accomplished.

Suddenly a black ball came crashing through the window. 'Not this again…' Ibiki thought to himself. The black ball then exploded and shot two kunai out towards the ceiling hanging a large banner reading "Part two of the Chunin Exam, Proctor Anko Mitarishi. A purple haired woman then appeared from the cloud of smoke that had formed from the black ball when it exploded.

"All right you brats! Are you ready for part two of the Exam!?" She exclaimed to the silently stunned group of remaining genin.

"You're early… Again…" Ibiki stated coming out from behind the banner. Anko nervously scratched the back of her head and tried to laugh off the awkward situation.

"Oh… Sorry bout that Ibiki… hahaha" Anko then turned her attention to the still stunned and confused crop of genin. She quickly counted them and was impressed with how many Ibiki had managed to weed out. She had originally hoped that it would be in the twenties. That way she could use the same second part of the test she had done when she was a genin, but now she had to do a longer version of the test to make sure less than half made it through.

"45 Ibiki, not bad, could be better though…" She said to the tall Jonin.

"It's an impressive crop here." Ibiki replied

"Any catch your eye yet?"

"It's the ones I don't see that impress me. And I didn't see that blond haired kid in the front write down a thing for the first thirty minutes but he suddenly started filling out his sheet quickly there at the end." Ibiki said quietly to the other proctor. Anko grinned at this and figured she would make a statement the next day with him.

"Ok, all of you get directions to training ground 44 from your Jonin and meet me there at nine am sharp. If you're late, you will be disqualified." She stated in an authoritative voice to the genin. "You're all dismissed!" With that Anko then took her leave out the window that she came through.

As the remaining genin got up to leave and started walking out the door Sakura scanned the area and got Naruto's attention before he could leave.

"Hey, Naruto-Kun wait up!" Sakura then walked over to the blond "Hey I was thinking that we should go get some ramen tonight to celebrate us passing." Sakura said smiling at Naruto. Naruto had a bit of a confused expression on his face from the request but he was never one to turn down ramen.

"Yea sure Sakura-Chan" Naruto replied. **'HELL YEA WE GOT A DATE!**' Inner Sakura said excited to herself.

"Hey Hinata-Chan you want to come get some ramen tonight?" Sakura mentally face palmed at this. Hinata then made her way over to Naruto and Sakura.

"Sakura-Chan invited me out to get some ramen and I was wondering if you wanted to come?" Hinata thought before she responded 'Oh so she is trying to steal Naruto-Kun from me. Well she isn't going to do it easy.' Hinata thought jealously to herself.

"I would love to" Hinata replied. She was now holding Naruto's arm in a very affectionate way. "Hey why don't we invite everyone else too?" Hinata suggested furthering Sakura's frustration.

"Yea I think that's a good Idea too." Naruto replied "Hey Shikamaru, Lee, Choji!" Naruto called out and ran off to catch up to the others and invite them out. This left Hinata and Sakura alone for a moment as the two put up their best fake smiles at the other.

**End**

**A/N: Well with this being the marking of the 100 followers I'll let you guys in on some of my future plans with this story. I'm planning on this story having 4 parts to it. Part one that we are currently in takes place at the beginning of the canon story. Everyone is 12 basically, and so far I've stayed pretty close to the canon, that is going to change. Starting with the preliminaries the story is going to be almost all my ideas with the exception of the Akatsuki which will be the main antagonist in part 2. There is going to be a major event though that changes the entire story here soon in part one and will give me a lot to write about.**

**Part two as I mentioned will be when the Akatsuki strike and begin their plan. I'm not positive on how close I will follow the canon in this part but it should still have some connections. The Konoha 12 will be 16-17 in this part and maybe 18 depending on how long it goes.**

**Part 3 will be me starting the story of when the Konoha 12 are 23-24 at the start but will be about 26 when this part ends. This will be based on the point when they are becoming Jonin sensei. Not all may become Jonin and I can spoil it now not all 12 will still be alive come this part. Some may not even make it to part 2. This part will be challenging for me because I will have to create new characters that will be the new genin but I look forward to it and hopefully I have you guys to help give me suggestions on what types of characters you would all like to see. I know who I will have be the main antagonist in this part, some hints are that he is from the canon and by this time will be very powerful, my hopes are that I can make him somewhere around Madara's caliber of power but I don't know because the canon made Madara OP in my opinion so we'll see if I'm up to the challenge. (I'm going to assume that a lot of you will guess who it is but just to add to help make it interesting I'll keep it secret for now.)**

**Part 4 Naruto and friends will be in their late 30's. As you can guess this will revolve around their children. The only problem here is that not all my couples will be the same as canon so I'm going to have to tweak everyone a bit. I do not know at this time who I will have be the main antagonist, possibly will make a new character or have one of the good guy's go over to the dark side. I get to do my favorite part here where I get to decide the teams. So far I'm pretty sure I will have Naruto's Child be on the same team as Shikamaru's (If he makes it)**

**And that is what my plan is guys. I don't know if I should break these up, like start a new story with each one or if you guys would want me to just continue adding to this and have hundreds of chapters. I'm going to let you guys decide that for me.**

**SPOILERS: DO NOT READ IF YOU WANT EVERYTHING IN THE NEXT CHAPTERS TO STILL BE A MYSTERY**

**At least one of the Konoha 12 will not make it past chapter one but their death will play a large roll for the character development for their team and sensei. (And no I am not killing off Neji in the Chunin Exams even though many of you want me to. This does not mean he will die as he did in the canon or mean he is safe until the end) Haku is probably not going to make a reappearance in Part 1, not sure about him yet. The only things that are set in stone is that at least one person will die in upcoming chapters and that every match in the third round of the Chunin exams will be different. This means no Sakura v Ino, No Hinata v Neji, No Shikamaru v Temari, No Gaara v Rock Lee, and No Shino v Konkuro. Another thing that I hope you guys will enjoy is that the Chunin Exams will have a winner! This does not mean the invasion is off, but I am planning of it either happening later in the day during the celebration of the winner or it will take place during the fights and it will begin again in a week or so.**

**I'm sorry if this ruined the story for a lot of you guys but I really want to get your feedback on how you think the story could be better. Feel free to give me some long reviews or PMs, this also goes to people that are reading this chapter later than others, I'm up for any advice or good Ideas you all have for Parts 2-4 and who know maybe I'll get carried away and go all star wars on this and add parts 5-6. Part 7- would probably be overkill and me just not knowing when to quit. Anyways thank you all for the 100 follower and the support over the month. I promise I will not quit until I reach the end of part 3 at the very least. (Even though some have tried to discourage me, Hatas gonna hate, YoloSwag) If I do for some reason have to take a hiatus I will give you warning in advance.**

**PS: Sorry for the long A/N **


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Outside the Forest of Death

Naruto and his team were arriving at training ground 44, also known as the forest of death. The three walked together, Hinata and Naruto holding hands and smiling as they arrived. Once there they saw that most of the other competitors had already arrived. Team ten was about to make their way over to team seven but the proctor began going over the rules.

"Ok you brats listen up because I don't want to have to repeat myself" Anko addressed the group. She began talking about the rules and how they're basically were none except not to look into the scroll that they were given.

"Hey Hinata-Chan, doesn't that look like the woman that was with Kurenai sensei the other week when she asked out Asuma sensei." Naruto said. Hinata took a closer look and confirmed that it was the same woman.

"Yes I believe so Naruto-Kun"

"I guess when she isn't playing matchmaker she's trying to kill genin" Naruto joked. Suddenly he felt a kunai pass right by him and slice open a small cut on his cheek. Quickly Anko flashed over to behind Naruto and held a kunai up to his throat.

"What was that brat?" She said to him, the kunai still up against his throat.

"Wow you're crazier than I thought" Naruto said hoping to lighten the tense atmosphere she had created.

"Ya know I think I like you kid. The jokesters are always the first to die in here." She said with bloodlust and licked the blood from his cheek. At that moment Anko felt three people with killing intent in the area.

'**I SWEAR IF SHE LAYS ANOTHER FINGER ON NARUTO-KUN I'M GOING TO LAY MY FIST INTO HER FACE!**' Inner Sakura yelled out furiously in her head.

'**I BET I CAN TURN OFF THE NERVES IN HER SPINE IF I AIM JUST RIGHT'** Inner Hinata thought wanting to get the psyco woman off her boyfriend.

The third killing intent was coming from a grass Nin, who snuck up close behind Anko to hand the proctor her kunai that she had thrown, but this woman was in Anko's personal space and instinct was to kill anyone this close.

"You should remember for future reference that sneaking up on me like this is a sure fire way to get a kunai lodged in you." Anko said uncomfortably kindly to the grass Nin.

"Sorry, I just wanted to return this to you" The grass Nin said somehow with her tongue still holding the kunai out.

"Oh, why thank you Grass nin." Anko thanks kindly hiding that even she was creped out by this genin. Anko then went on to finish going over the rules, passing out the release forms and handing out the scrolls behind a small tent.

Team eight was the first to receive a scroll. The looked at it and saw that it was a heaven scroll, Shino and Choji then gestured for Sakura to take the scroll trusting her to protect it the best.

"I won't let you guys down." Sakura said determined to prove those words to them.

"Don't worry about it Sakura, you got me protecting you, and if anything were to get by me, Shino would have your back." Choji said reassuringly to take some of the pressure off his teammate.

Next was team Guy, they received an earth scroll. There was no debate in who would carry it, they all agreed that Neji was the strongest and would take the best care of it. Others thought that there would be conflict in the group with Neji being so blunt and at sometimes even cruel in his words, but when it came to working and training together Lee, and Tenten always had Neji's back.

Team ten then went into the tent. After handing their papers in Naruto and Hinata turned to Shikamaru to see who he wanted to have hold the Earth scroll. Shikamaru selected himself for the reason that he was a long range fighter and would most likely come in the least direct contact of the enemy. Naruto and Hinata agreed without question fully believing in Shikamaru's strategy.

Finally team seven received their scroll. Unlike the other teams there was a little debate over who would carry it but eventually Kiba was out voted and Sasuke took the Earth scroll.

The fifteen teams then made their way to their gates that they were assigned to enter through. Once the alarm went off and the gates opened everyone rushed into the forest to set up position.

"Alright you both remember the plan right." Shikamaru said to his teammates while they were rushing to where they planned to set up camp.

"How could we forget? You made its sound pretty simple." Naruto replied with a grin anxiously awaiting his chance to prove to the others just what he believed he can do.

"And Hinata-"Shikamaru started

"I'm already scanning the area around us for dangers Shikamaru." Hinata interjected "We should adjust our course a little to the left; I see a large bear up ahead of us."

Team ten then changed their direction slightly as they continued on to their desired destination.

2 days later…

Team ten was sitting in a large cave they had found under a large tree. They had set up camp here early on the first day. They made it their goal to hide out for the first couple days and conserve as much energy as possible.

Naruto wasn't a huge fan of this idea but he respected Shikamaru, and knew that his teammate only had the best interest in passing the second part of the Chunin Exams. So he went along with the strategy and kept a low profile.

They had almost been discovered multiple times but thanks to Hinata's Byakugon the was quick to alert them whenever someone or something approached.

Food wasn't as hard to come by for team ten as it was other teams thanks to Shikamaru. He was very adept at hunting deer and using his Shadow Possession Jutsu to paralyze them. He had practiced this many times before with his father in the Nara clan's personal ranch.

"Ok guys," Shikamaru spoke up getting his teammates attention. "It's been exactly two days since the exam begun, so the other teams should be worn down by now and the scrolls should be easy pickings."

"Finally!" Naruto yelled and was quickly shushed by Hinata and Shikamaru.

"What is the plan Shikamaru?" Hinata asked

"The plan is we go kick some ass!" Naruto interjected.

"Not quite." Shikamaru replied with a smirk. 'While others would be foolish and separate to cover more ground Asuma sensei gave me strict advice not to do that.' Shikamaru thought to himself.

"We are going to move through the forest about a mile away from the tower in a circle. Hinata will lead the way scanning the area with her eyes. I will follow close behind so Hinata can relay the info to me as fast and quiet as possible. Naruto you will take up the rear guard, this will give you the best chance to counter any enemies that try an attack on either Hinata or myself." Naruto and Hinata nodded their heads agreeing to the plan Shikamaru had devised.

'Hmmmff, I'd hope he would come up with a good plan, he only had two days to sit around and think about it.' Naruto thought silently.

The three headed off, Hinata activating her Byakugon and scanning in all directions. They were having a harder time finding other teams than they thought originally. Until they stumbled upon a heavily damaged area.

The three genin stopped at the area and scanned the wreckage that was once forest. There were burn marks everywhere, trees smashed in two and small puddles of blood all around. The group's look changed to horrified once they noticed just how much blood there was.

"What the hell happened here?" Naruto asked the fear evident in his voice.

"It looks like a full war went down here." Shikamaru replied "I mean look at that hole in the tree." The tree he was referring to had a large hole cut through it with cinder marks surrounding it along with some wire tied around it.

"It looks to me like it was a fire jutsu that did that. Hinata do you know any fire moves that could do that?" Shikamaru asked

"N-no… Not even the new jutsu Asuma sensei taught me could go straight through a tree of that size." Hinata answered shakily.

Team ten continued to inspect the area. All around they found what seemed to be burnt and ripped flesh but not that of a human but of some reptile. Naruto was looking at the area in some fear, but also some awe. He had never been in a ninja battle of this magnitude and the thought of being in one excited him.

He wondered how he would have fared in this battle. He also wondered who. He was suddenly brought out of his line of thought when he nearly tripped over something. He looked down and his eyes lit up when he saw a scroll laying on the ground. He quickly picked it up and turned to his teammates.

"Hey guys look what I found!" Naruto yelled as he held the scroll up with a large smile. Shikamaru and Hinata walked over to him but did not return the blonds joy.

"You idiot. This is an Earth scroll, we already have one." Shikamaru stated flatly bringing Naruto's joy to a screeching halt.

"Well two Earth scrolls are still better than one at least." Hinata put in seeing how saddened her boyfriend had quickly become hoping to cheer him up a little. Naruto gave her a small grin knowing what she was doing and was fine with it.

"I guess…" Shikamaru groaned.

"Hey guys" Naruto spoke up grabbing their attention "I don't get it."

"Are you still talking about the scroll?" Shikamaru asked annoyed "We need a heaven, and an earth, not two earths"

"No not that!" Naruto retorted "This whole area is demolished, but there isn't one body here. There is no way anyone could survive that fire jutsu, and if they did that would mean they would have to be some hell of a ninja. So why are there no bodies here?" A sense of confusion and curiosity sank in with Shikamaru and Hinata after hearing Naruto's analysis.

"That's a real good point." Shikamaru said as he scanned the area. "I don't know maybe one of the animals in this forest came and ate them."

"Most animals here don't eat dead things though." Hinata added "Asuma sensei told us he took his genin exam in this forest too." Hinata gulped "He said that the animals only ate genin that were "still kickin"". The Hyuga quoted grimly.

Team ten started scanning the area looking for more clues as to just what exactly happened here, who was here, why would they have left a scroll, and what became of them. After a moment of search Hinata let out a gasp. This frightened both Naruto and Shikamaru, hearing their teammate they quickly rushed to where she was at.

Hinata grabbed onto Naruto and hid her eyes that were tearing up at the bloody sight they had just found thirty yards out from the main battle area. Naruto and Shikamaru could barely look at the gory sight.

"No…" Naruto whispered out as some tears came to his eyes and he embraced Hinata tightening his hold around her as she continued to sob into his shirt.

"Dammit!" Shikamaru cursed "Who would do this? There is no way he could have even protected himself." Shikamaru said bitterly as he started pacing around the area in rage and small panic.

The sight they were looking at was a bloodied Akamaru who lied in a large puddle of blood with a snake's teeth piercing his midsection. The snakes head was cut off after the head. Akamaru lied there deceased.

As Naruto continued to embrace his sobbing girlfriend, he started putting the pieces together. The fire jutsu must have been Sasuke's; this explained whose scroll they must have found. 'But how could they leave him behind?'

"Guy's…" Naruto spoke up stopping Shikamaru from his frustrated pace as he turned with anger and sorrow in his eyes. "We know that this must have been team seven… but we also know Kiba would never leave Akamaru behind, even if it meant giving his own life…" Naruto said the last couple words slower, realizing the severity of his words.

This hit hard with Hinata and Shikamaru. The later even more as he fell to his knees assuming the worst.

"No, no no!" Shikamaru started saying franticly having a panic attack. "Kiba might have been knocked out, and Sasuke or Ino had to carry him away." Shikamaru said in denial.

Naruto out of the group was the calmest but that wasn't saying much. He had large streaks of tears running down his face. The only reason he wasn't losing it like Shikamaru or breaking down like Hinata was because this wouldn't be his most traumatic experience.

Shikamaru never was put into a situation where he thought someone close to him was dead before. He was totally unprepared for something like this to happen. Naruto on the other hand had suffered something similar to this, but to him it this seemed like a step below the whole ordeal Haku had put him though. He had nightmares for weeks about Haku killing Asuma and it being his own fault, letting him die, choosing Hinata over his sensei.

Naruto now noticing the state his teammates were in knew they wouldn't pass the exam like this.

"Let's go back to camp guys. We can wait one more day." Naruto spoke up releasing his hold on Hinata. Hinata then went over to Shikamaru and place a comforting hand on the Nara boy's shoulder while wiping tears away from her own face.

"Come Shikamaru, we n-need to get back to camp." She said trying her hardest to hide her worry. Shikamaru then got up with the help of Hinata as he was coming out of his daze ever so slowly.

"You guy's wait here." Naruto said firmly "He deserves a proper burial at least…" the blond said softly. He then walked over and carefully picked up the small dog and walked behind a tree to bury the former member of team seven.

'There is no way all that blood came from Akamaru, but with how Hinata and Shikamaru are now, they can't be out here fighting.' Naruto thought to himself.

After a few minutes Naruto came back from around the tree and frowned at his two teammates seeing the utter sorrow painted on their faces.

"Let's go guys… There is no point in us standing around here." Naruto said sadly as he ushered his teammate to leave the area. Once the three left off on the tree branches and where out of sight a rustling started in the tree above the pool of blood and Akamaru's new grave.

Down dropped a blond ninja. "Don't you guys worry; I'll go get us that Heaven scroll." Naruto said firmly clenching his fist as he took off in the opposite direction of the camp.

1 Hr. Later in the Forest

"Someone help me!" A red headed girl with glasses and a grass headband yelled as she ran for her life being chased by a giant bear. She was running short of breath from the chase, she turned around for a second to see that the beast was closing in on her. She suddenly tripped while her attention was turned behind her. She fell down with her glasses falling from her face a few feet away from her.

She screamed once more turning and making out the giant bear that was about to have her for lunch. She pinched her eyes shut not wanting to see her doom.

"Great Breakthrough jutsu!" A huge gust of wind picked up and knocked the bear over against a large tree. The red haired kunoichi opened her eyes trying to make out what was happening.

"Beast Tearing Palm!" Naruto yelled sending a blade of wind at the bear's head nocking it dizzy. The kunoichi then looked to her savior. She couldn't make out his face but could see he had blond hair and the warmest chakra she had ever felt. She sighed feeling this warm feeling the boy was giving off.

Meanwhile the bear had decided that this dinner wasn't worth the headache and scurried away. Naruto then began walking over to the girl but stopped when something caught his eye. He quickly reached to pick it up.

"Hey are you alright?" Naruto asked

"I guess so, thank you so much for saving me!" The red haired girl exclaimed

"Hey are these yours?" Naruto handed the girl her glasses. She smiled brightly as she put them on. This let her see her savior's face. She blushed thinking he was kinda cute, but what really got her was that chakra.

"Thanks again, I dropped these while the bear was chasing me." She said still blushing

"Oh it was nothing. What happened here anyway? And where are your teammates?" A frown quickly replaced her grin of happiness of her survival.

"That bear killed them. I would have died for sure if you hadn't of come along when you did." She said with sadness evident in her words.

"I'm really sorry to hear that… But I'm glad you're ok. By the way I didn't catch your name."

"It's Karin." She said her blush returning.

"Hi Karin, I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." Karin's eyes widened at this and her mouth dropped open a bit. She was about to say something but was interrupted by her blond savior.

"It's getting late; I better go check on my teammates. Oh and here's your scroll, you must have dropped it when you were running." He then handed her a scroll as she was still starring at his face with shock. "Hope you make it to the exit safe, see ya!" and with that Naruto started making his exit.

"Wait, you're and Uzumaki too!" Karin yelled but Naruto couldn't hear as he was already too far away. Karin then looked down to her scroll. "Hey I didn't have and earth scroll before!"

Back at camp

Naruto tried his best to sneak back into the camp. He made some quick hand signals to his clone to exit the camp for a moment so he could pull the switcheroo.

"Uhhhh I gotta go take a leak, be back in a sec" The clone said as he excused himself from the small area.

"Don't go too far" Shikamaru said as he gazed into the fire emotionlessly.

"Don't worry, I won't" With that the clone hurried over to the bushes that the real Naruto was behind.

"Did they catch on to our plan?" Naruto asked his clone

"Nope! They don't suspect a thing." The clone said with a toothy smile.

"Is that so?" A feminine voice interjected with anger present. Both Naruto's eyes filled with fear and sweat dropped as Hinata appeared behind the clone.

"Uhhhh this looks like a personal matter so I'll just be going…" The clone said fearfully as he dispersed. This left Naruto alone with a very angry Hinata.

"Look I can explain" Naruto started to try and defend himself

"How can you explain going off on your own?! We all agreed when we entered this forest to stay together at all time!" Hinata scolded the blond.

"But Hinata-Chan"

"Don't Chan me Naruto! You had me so worried! The only reason I didn't call your clone out on your lie was because I didn't want to worry Shikamaru more with the state he's in." She said still chiding him.

"I didn't think you guys were in any condition to go out and look for a scroll after seeing that stuff earlier." Naruto defended himself

"Oh but you were!"

"We have to get out of this forest and look I got a heaven scroll" Naruto said as he pulled the scroll he had traded with that Karin girl he met earlier.

"I don't care about the scroll Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled as she slapped the blonds had holding the scroll but he managed to hold onto it. "I was worried about you! Did you ever think how Shikamaru and I would feel if anything happened to you and we weren't there! What if you were killed!" Hinata yelled. She then broke down from all the frustration and started tearing up and hitting Naruto in the chest.

"You're just so selfish sometimes!" She sputtered out as her hitting stopped and Naruto embraced her with her arms in between their chest as she cried lightly into Naruto's chest for the second time today.

Naruto was taken back by her words. He just stood there holding his girlfriend letting her words sink in.

"No… I didn't think how you or Shikamaru would feel. I was being selfish Hinata-Chan… I'm just not ust to people… caring about me…" The blond said softly as he stroked the back of Hinata's head to soothe her. After a short moment Hinata lifter her head off Naruto's chest and looked him in the eyes. She gazed into those bright blue eyes that she loved so much.

"Naruto-Kun I love you. And I always will. If anything ever happened to you part of me would die too." She said firmly letting there be no doubt in her voice or any doubt of how she felt about Naruto.

Naruto gasped slightly never hearing those words towards him.

"Hi-Hinata-Chan…" was all he could say. Hinata then wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. They stayed like this for a couple minutes before they went back to the camp together.

Once there Naruto explained everything to Shikamaru and Hinata, how he had tricked them with the clone, how he had save a girl from a bear and then replaced the earth scroll they found earlier with her heaven scroll.

Shikamaru was furious with Naruto, but was a little lighter on him than Hinata was. Shikamaru chided the blond for half an hour about the main rule Asuma had told them coming into the second stage of the exam. Naruto accepted and admitted what he had done was selfish and wrong of him but it did get them the scroll and he returned safely and that was what really mattered.

The next morning the group snuck through the forest to the tower. They were nearly caught by some rain genin but Hinata saw through the genjutsu and led them quickly to the tower so they could avoid all unnecessary conflict.

Once inside there was a riddle on the wall that Shikamaru solved almost instantly telling his teammates to open the scrolls and lay them out across each other. The scrolls then summoned Iruka who started lecturing the team about what the scrolls represented.

After that was over they had almost a full two days to lounge around inside the tower. In the mess hall they saw that a team from the sand had made it through, along with Guy's team, and team eight.

"Naruto-kun you made it!" Sakura exclaimed as she rushed over to the blond and hugged him from behind. Hinata's eyes lit ablaze with jealousy, she remembered how the night before the second exam Sakura tried to get Naruto a little drunk off sake but that back fired. Bigtime!

Naruto was taken back by the pink haired girl's sudden embrace of him and sweat dropped as he could feel Hinata's glare to the side of him. He looked at her with sweat dropping suddenly fearing a violent outburst from his girlfriend again. 'Don't need a repeat of what happened during the genin dinner.' He thought fearfully for his wellbeing and everyone nearby. So he acted what he thought was the most appropriate way at the time.

Sakura opened her eyes and saw that she was no longer hanging onto Naruto but instead onto Shikamaru.

"Uhhhh this is a real drag…" Shikamaru moaned with a small blush. Sakura released her hold of the Nara boy realizing Naruto used the substitution jutsu to replace him with Shikamaru. Sakura looked over to Hinata who had Naruto standing beside her with his arm around her shoulder smiling sheepishly.

'**NAAAARUUUUTOOOO!'** inner Sakura yelled and imagined punching the Hyuga heiress sending her flying.

Meanwhile across the room Rock Lee was steaming once again at Shikamaru. 'First you steal the appraisal of Guy sensei from me, and now you dare to steal the woman of my dreams! Mark my words I will prove to Guy sensei and Sakura-Hime along with everyone else that I Rock Lee am the true genius of hard work! Shikamaru Nara…' Lee thought passionately to himself.

End

**Akamaru is the first of the characters to have an unexpected death. But what happened to the rest of team seven? Next chapter will be the beginning of the preliminaries. There will be a total of 15 participants in the preliminaries with one lucky person getting a bye. I'm looking at the list of fights I have on deck and so far I only have one fight from last year's Chunin exam that is a repeat. Otherwise you guys have 12 new matchups to look forward to.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The 4th day of the second exam

The four teams that had arrived to the tower and already passed the second part of the exam enjoyed their rest time. None of the Jonin senseis would arrive until the fifth day so that as little knowledge of the third part would be spoiled to the genin.

Team ten had decided that since they had no hard proof that anyone from team seven was dead they would keep the info to themselves. It bugged them to think back to it still.

During this time the genin socialized a bit. Shikamaru of course hung out with Choji the majority of the time. Hinata and Naruto likewise spent the majority of their time together alone; this was mainly because of Hinata trying to keep away from Sakura. This left Sakura alone with Shino in the rec hall the majority of the time.

The two were currently "hanging out" Sakura trying to make small talk with Shino being the only person she knew who wasn't off with someone else. But talking with the Aburame boy proved to be challenging as always for Sakura.

"So… A Shino whatcha doin?" Sakura asked just trying to pass by the time. Shino showed no facial reaction to this.

"I am currently having my partners rotate their position inside my body so as to keep them from developing a habit of non-movement." Shino answered mono tone. Sakura's eye twitched at this. She had gotten accustomed to Shino's bugs but was still grossed out at the thought of them living inside a person.

"Well that's neat… I guess…" She replied trying her best not to sound creeped out. Sakura then looked around the rec for someone else to talk too desperately. The only person she would refuse to go near at this point was the red headed boy from the sand. She was terrified of the boy, after seeing him kill an entire team of genin during the second part of the exam she was in no hurry to be anywhere near him.

Her eyes scanned the room; the first person she saw was an older boy with his hair in a ponytail and eyes that looked similar to Hinata's. But she got a vibe from him that said "I'm not interested in small talk" So she continued to look around the room. Her eyes then fell on an older girl with her brown hair in buns. She looked normal enough so Sakura got up and started walking over to the old kunoichi.

She stopped when she saw a boy with a bowl cut and green clad jump suit approach the older girl. She studied them for a bit as they both seemed normal enough. That thought was thrown out the window when the girl viciously clubbed the boy upside the head sending him flying back.

"Common Lee! Stop being such a girl!" the brown haired girl yelled.

"But Tenten!" Lee moaned as he was lying on the ground with a dazed look "What if she doesn't feel the same?!" He pleaded

"Who cares?! What's the worst she could do?"

"Exactly what you just did to me…" Lee replied scared

"And look, you lived through that, so just go do it already!" Tenten argued.

"You are right! I have already suffered the worst case scenario and am stronger now than I was before! Thank you Tenten."

Sakura looked at the two for a moment more and was a little put back by their relationship. She started walking away.

"Hey Sakura-Chan!" Lee called out to get the pink haired genin to turn her attention back around.

"Uhhh me?" Sakura asked pointing to herself questioning if he really meant to talk to her. She was also questioning why he called her "Chan".

"Yes! I am Rock Lee the Hidden Leaf's Handsome Devil." Lee introduced himself giving the good guy pose.

"Well Hi Lee, I'm-"Sakura started to introduce herself but was cut off.

"I already know, you are Sakura Haruno." Sakura was confused as to why and how he knew her already.

"Sakura" Lee said "You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, I love you with all my heart and will protect you until the day I die. Will you do I the honor and be my girlfriend?" Sakura was flattered at the complement but she just wasn't interested, she still had her sights set on a certain blond and didn't want to ruin any future chances with him.

"Thank you Lee, but I kinda already like someone." Sakura said trying to be as nice as possible about the whole situation. Lee's facial expression depressed at hearing this.

"I see… But I don't get it." Lee replied

"What don't you get?"

"What do you see in him? I mean I know he works harder than anyone else to be great but what else does he have that I don't?" Sakura sighed as she thought of Naruto.

"He has always been nice to me, and caring, and he just has this certain charisma about him." Lee took a second to take in everything that she listed.

"I think I know what you are talking about. But I won't give up on you, even if this creates much unneeded tension between me and Shikamaru!" Lee said determined

"Wait did you just say Shikamaru?" Sakura asked confused

"Yes it is obvious you are in love with him is it not?" Lee asked. He was met with an equally powerful shot to the head as the one he received earlier from Tenten. Lee was sent flying across the room again. Sakura stomped out of the rec hall angered by the assumption of her and Shikamaru. Tenten then walked over to Lee and gave him a sad smile looking down at him.

"Well good thing I prepped you earlier I guess" Tenten spoke. Lee just moaned in pain.

The battle arena 1 day later

All the teams of genin that had passed the second stage of the exam were present and lined up in front of the Hokage, Ibiki, Anko, many other Jonin and Chunin proctors along with some tall man with white hair and a red coat who looked to be in a rather bad mood.

The third Hokage looked over the genin that had passed and was surprised by the number.

"I really expected there to only be nine that would make it this far." The Hokage said to no one in particular.

"Maybe we got some real talent here." The taller man replied "It's a good thing; because we sure are gonna need it…" He said in a serious tone.

"Indeed, if you hadn't of been here we would have most certainly lost more genin and people already Jiraiya." The Hokage added

"Yea it's a good thing. Orochimaru would have definitely killed that girl if I didn't arrive when I did." Jiraiya said as he looked down angrily "I just wish I could have save that boy too…" He said as his fist clenched.

"You did all you could. You can't blame yourself for the actions of your former teammate."

"He's right lord Jiraiya" Anko spoke up "You saved that girl and the Uchiha boy, If you weren't here I would have been the one to go after him and I would have probably died fighting that bastard." Anko stopped as she held her curse mark. "And you even managed to stop him from cursing that kid for life. I wish someone like you was around when I was his age."

Those words didn't help how Jiraiya felt. He was starting to feel responsible for the people of the village. He knew that he is the only one that could even hope to stop his former teammate, well him and Tsunade. That was something he wanted to change.

Jiraiya was told only a week ago that he would be named the next Hokage, he tried to turn it down but his former sensei just had this way of persuading him, making him believe it was the best choice. So after a while he reluctantly accepted and would be named Hokage after the Chunin Exams.

Now Jiraiya was focused on the future of the village and its shinobi. He knew that he wouldn't be able to always be there for everyone and he needed to raise the level of everyone. Starting with the new promising crop of genin before him.

Naruto looked around the room hoping to see his friends from team seven but was disappointed. There was team eight with Sakura, Choji, and Shino, Guy's team with Neji, Tenten, and Lee, three sand genin, three sound genin, and finally team ten. A total of 15 participants remained.

The Hokage started lecturing the genin before him about the purpose of the Chunin Exams for a bit. After that was done Hayate interrupted him and asked that he explain the rules. Once Hayate finished explaining how too many had passed and they would need a preliminary round everyone turned their attention up to the giant monitor that shot out two random names

Tenten smirked "Well this will be fun" she said cocky. Up on the monitor it read "Tenten vs Naruto Uzumaki"

Hinata turned to see Naruto's reaction. He stood there grinning confidently. 'Naruto-Kun' she thought concerned remembering the last time Naruto and Shikamaru faced off against Tenten and Lee.

"This will be a good warm up." Naruto said confidently turning his attention to Tenten.

"The rest of you can go up to the spectating area." Hayate said motioning for the genin and their Jonin sensei's to clear the floor for the upcoming battle.

"Well this is gonna be boring." One of the younger Chunin proctors whispered to another "We got two kids neither one from a clan. I can't wait to see that Hyuga prodigy in action" This didn't go unnoticed by Jiraiya.

"And just what great clan are you from?" Jiraiya asked to the younger Chunin. The Chunin immediately striated his posture being addressed by the Sannin.

"I-I'm from the Nara clan" He replied shakily. Jiraiya smirked at the small panic he put in the Chunin.

"I'm more interested in this match than the others to be honest with you" The rest of the Chunin and Jonin Proctors raised an eyebrow of interest at the statement. The Uzumaki boy had gotten the interest of Ibiki but Anko hadn't seen anything impressive from him in the second stage of the exam. While the others wondered just what interested the Sannin in this match the third Hokage was the only one that really knew and smiled to himself happy to see his former student stick up for the boy.

Once everyone was off the floor and in the spectating area, Naruto and Tenten stood in front of the other with about ten feet in between them.

"You may both begin!" Hayate said with a cough as he jumped back.

"You sure you want to try this again?" Tenten ask snidely "I mean last time we did this you weren't too much of a challenge"

"Ha! Me and Shikamaru were just going easy on you back then. I'm a lot stronger now." Naruto retorted staring down his opponent.

"We'll see about that!" Tenten exclaimed as she jumped back and started hurling weapons at the blond. Naruto dodged everything thrown at him easily. Once it seemed the girl was out of weapons on hand Naruto stopped and grinned at the kunoichi.

"For being a weapons expert you sure can't aim." Naruto said hoping to get under his opponents skin. Tenten just smirked at the comment and summoned a staff from one of her scrolls. She gracefully started twirling it to show she was adept with the staff.

"Naruto is in trouble now." Lee spoke up; this caught the attention of the others.

"Why, is Tenten good with that stick?" Choji asked

"Guy sensei bared her from using it in sparring matches with Neji and myself. That staff is hard enough to crush anyone's bones in a single swing." Lee answered

"Not only that" Guy added in "But Tenten is the more proficient with that staff than anyone I have ever met. The only time she gets training in with that thing is when we are on a mission and she gets into a battle or when I spar with her using my nunchaku." This worried Hinata, Shikamaru, and Sakura as they looked down at the blond.

"Wait you use your nunchaku on that girl?" Kurenai asked

"You must be holding back" Asuma added on. Guy smirked a little but kept his attention on the match.

"No, Tenten pushes me whenever we are in armed combat. Sure I could beat her in a one on one but she is best weapon specialist I know."

Down on the arena floor Naruto created a half dozen clones and began charging in on the brown haired girl. Tenten skillfully took out the clones one by one with her staff as she twirled the poll around herself. Once only the real Naruto was left Tenten went on the offensive and charged in with her staff in hand. Naruto pulled out a kunai hoping to use it against the hard staff but as soon as Tenten was in range she slapped the kunai out of the blonds hand by hitting the back of his hand.

Naruto yelled out in pain as he dropped the kunai and jumped back holding his right hand. "Agh, I think my hand is broken." Naruto mumbled out looking at his tender hand.

"I'm not surprised. Your hand would have to be made of steel to not bread from my staff." Tenten said smiling "I bet it's going to be hard making hand signs without that hand huh."

Naruto gritted his teeth together realizing that with one move this girl had effectively cut off the majority of his attack. 'If I'm going to beat her, either my hand needs to get better fast, or I'm going to have to beat her with my right arm tied behind my back along with my ninjutsu.' He thought to himself.

Tenten then charged forward again aiming to slam her staff down on the boy's head. He quickly rolled out to the side avoiding the devastating strike that left a small crater in the concrete floor. Naruto gulped seeing what almost happened to his head. The young kunoichi was not done yet and began her attack again swinging quickly and powerfully at the blond.

Naruto tried his best to avoid all the attacks. The game of cat and mouse continued for five minutes when until Tenten started running out of breath. She stopped her assault to catch her breath quick and was panting. She looked over to Naruto who was grinning at her devilishly wondering how he didn't even seem to break a sweat yet.

"How are you not tired yet?" Tenten asked while panting. Naruto's grin grew slightly at the question and seeing the girl worn out a little.

"I finally found out how you did it." Naruto replied, Tenten's eyebrows furrowed "Your staff is made out of wood, but no wooden staff could destroy the arena floor like you did earlier. You infuse your chakra into and around the staff making it much more powerful, that's how you broke my hand so easily."

"So what, that's not gonna help you stop my attacks!" Tenten retorted. Naruto snorted at the statement still grinning.

"I don't have to. You already used up the majority of your chakra and can barely move. Hell I could run circles around you right now!" Naruto mocked. Tenten gritted her teeth at this annoyed that this punk had found a weakness and exposed it.

The onlookers were all impressed by the blond after this.

"Is what Naruto-kun said true Kurenai sensei?" Sakura asked looking up to her sensei

"Yes much like one of the Sannin Tsunade she infused chakra into her staff to make the blows much more powerful and devastating, but it also wears the user down faster if they don't possess a large supply of chakra." Kurenai answered informing her students and the other genin in hearing range. "I'm assuming you informed your students of this already." Kurenai said turning her attention to Asuma.

"I never went over it in detail." Asuma replied smiling at his student's strategy "Naruto learned about it all on his own. I've sparred with the kid hundreds of times, and not once have I ever outlasted him. No matter how many times or how hard he gets knocked down he always gets back up. His endurance and stamina is unhuman."

"Be that as it may, Tenten is not finished yet." Guy spoke up "She still has plenty left to show us."

Tenten then readied herself for another attack on the blond but was interrupted.

"Tenten!" Guy yelled from the stands getting the girl's attention "No more holding back! I want you to undo your seals." Guy said grinning as only he and his team knew something. A giant smile came to the girl's face as she set her staff down and reached down to her legs. On her legs were two seals wrapped around her legs. She released them quickly and began to shake her legs loose.

"Naruto I gotta thank you, Guy sensei never lets me take these seals off, now it's gonna get fun. Well for me at least." Tenten said, she then summoned a pair of tonfas. Naruto looked at her confused by the seals and the strange weapons she had in her hands. In a flash Tenten disappeared and reappeared behind Naruto where she struck him multiple times in the midsection and the legs before kicking him away.

Naruto landed on his hands and knees holding his ribs and coughing from the attack. He turned back to the kunoichi with shock in his eyes from the sudden boost in speed.

"I will admit Lee is still faster than me, but on our team Neji is really the slow poke, that's why he relies so much on his gentle fist." Tenten spoke trying to let Naruto know that he was nowhere close to as fast as her.

"So she was holding back even when we had that spar with her and the rest of our team a couple weeks ago. Just great." Shikamaru spoke up a little fearful of wondering just how powerful Lee and Neji really are.

"It will be ok Shikamaru. If anyone could overcome this it would be Naruto-kun" Hinata said confidently in her boyfriend.

"Yea Shikamaru, you should be more supportive!" Sakura chided "Like this, COME ON NARUTO-KUN! YOU CAN DO IT!" Sakura cheered for the blond.

Asuma and Kurenai weren't as impressed as the others, they expected no less from the taijutsu master. 'I wouldn't be surprised if that goofball had taught his students the 8 inner gates to be honest' Asuma thought to himself. 'But Hinata is right; Naruto always seems to find a way to get out of these hard situations.'

For the next five minutes Naruto took the beating of his life. Unable to summon and shadow clones or perform any ninjutsu, he was stuck with taijutsu and with Tenten being a weapons expert with these tonfas, along with this new super speed, it seemed as though Naruto didn't have a chance.

"Well you give up yet?" Tenten asked with a smirk as she watched the blond slowly get up to his knees.

"Just give up Naruto." The kunoichi said with a little remorse seeing some blood drip from the boy's mouth to the floor. "If you get back up I'm just going to have to hurt you again. Are you really that stupid" The girl chided seeing Naruto finally get a foot under him.

"I-I never give up." Naruto spoke up as he worked to get to both his feet shakily. "T-That's my nindo. My ninja way." The blond said as he looked up, with blood dripping from the sides of his mouth and bruising all around his body.

"Fine have it your way!" Tenten said frustrated as she charged forward. She swung her left tonfa high which Naruto was able to duck under easily but immediately after missing the girl swung her other metal tonfa into the side of Naruto's left knee making the blond collapse in immense pain.

Naruto let out a cry of pain as he clutched his knee with his good hand.

"I told you that you would only get hurt if you got back up." Tenten said frustrated. She didn't like hurting people this badly but she also knew what it would take to get to the next round.

Up in the stands Hinata, Sakura, and Shikamaru looked on worried for their blond friend.

"He should have given up." Neji stated coldly as everyone's attention turned to the Hyuga prodigy "He should have known from already sparring with Tenten that he stood no chance, it was destined for him to fail here. He is a failure and always will be a failure."

"That's not true!" Hinata spoke up with determination and some anger. This took everyone there by surprise. Only Shikamaru and Naruto had ever truly seen Hinata angry, and it was something that always made them feel uncomfortable and scared. "Naruto-kun has been called a failure all his life, but he never gives up! Why, because that is what failures do! They give up! And that's not what Naruto-kun is!"

Guy and the other Jonin sensei smiled proudly at the inspirational speech from the young Hyuga girl. Guy and Lee's respect for the girl grew largely from it hitting close to home for the two. Neji snorted at the sudden outburst.

"Fine, lets watch as your precious Naruto-kun gets back up only for him to delay his destiny of failure and defeat." Neji retorted

Naruto was still holding onto his knee wincing in pain. 'I can feel my knee swelling up; soon I won't be able to move it.' He thought to himself grimly.

"Are you still able to continue?" Hayate asked the blond laying on the ground.

"I never give up. What part of that didn't you understand the first time?" Naruto asked rhetorically. He slowly started making his way back up but once he got one of his feet up his jaw was met with a hard strike from the metal tonfa. Naruto flew back a couple of feet and lied there.

"There now he doesn't have to give up." Tenten said remorsefully hanging her head hiding her face "I took the option away from him…" The entire arena went quiet at the sudden and violent strike Tenten delivered to the blond. Sakura's mouth hung open a bit as her eyes started to water seeing Naruto lay their sprawled out on the floor with small spots of blood for his mouth and nose spread about him.

Hayate walked over to inspect and confirm the end of the match. He saw no immediate sign of the blond getting up any time soon. "Naruto Uzumaki cannot continue, the winner is"

"Don't stop this match!" Everyone's attention yet again turned to the Hyuga girl who had suddenly spoken up for the second time today.

"What are you saying Hinata?!" Sakura chided "What do you want to get Naruto-kun killed?!" Hinata didn't reply and just motioned for the pink haired girl to look back down to the arena floor.

There the bloodied and beaten blond was slowly starting to get back to his feet.

"I don't know if this kid has guts or just doesn't know when to quit." Konkuro joked from the opposite side of the spectating area.

"I'd put my money on stupid." Temari replied smirking

Tenten too looked up upon hearing Hinata's outburst and was looking with frustration seeing the blond boy get up again.

"I don't want to hurt you kid. Why do you keep doing this to yourself?" Tenten asked with frustration evident. Naruto laughed a bit with a cough following. "What's so funny!" The girl demanded as Naruto finally stood to his feet obviously putting the majority of weight on his right leg.

"It's just funny. If you want to win so bad, your gonna have to kill me, because I will never stay down." Naruto said firmly taking a fighting stance.

"Damn you" Tenten cursed. She then charged in for a finishing blow. She would swing with her left first to make him dodge since he couldn't use his right hand to stop anything. She would then finish with a blow to his temple from her right then.

As she planned out Naruto leaned back avoiding her first shot. She then started swinging with her right crossing her arms over momentarily. It was on target to connect when Naruto suddenly grabbed the tonfa and stopped the attack with his left hand grabbing onto the metal pole. Tenten was stunned that he actually managed to predict her attack and had the speed to stop it. Naruto then reared his right broken fist back, he pulled Tenten in with is left hand pulling at the tonfa bringing her in closer as he unleashed a destructive punch to the girl's left temple.

Tenten flew back a couple feet knock out cold. Everyone looked on in pure shock at the sudden counter. Tenten's teammates especially were shocked with their mouths opens gasping at the sudden turn in events.

Naruto stood there trying not to let back the damn of tears that were building up from the pain he was in. His hand was throbbing uncontrollably in pain and his knee was stuck strait from swelling. 'MUST… LOOK… COOL…' He thought to himself.

Hayate walked over to the unconscious Tenten and quickly saw that she was in no condition to continue. "Winner of the match and moving on to the final rounds is Naruto Uzumaki" Hayate announced coughing in-between.

"YEAAAAAAAA! HE DID IT!" Sakura cheered from the standing area. Shikamaru and Lee both quickly jumped down to help their teammates. Naruto rested his left arm on Shikamaru's shoulder as he helped the blond walk back up the stairs.

"I would congratulate you but it wouldn't feel right seeing you slugged a girl in the face." Shikamaru joked earning a tic mark to form on Naruto's head.

"Look what she did to me! She broke like 20 bones and all I did was punch her once!" Naruto retorted making Shikamaru laugh.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed as she ran over to her boyfriend.

"Hinata-Cha-"Naruto started but was cut off by Hinata's lips against his and her arms wrapped around him. Sakura turned away at this not wishing to see anymore.

"Aww come on guys! Do you really have to do that when you're this close to me!?" Shikamaru moaned making the couple laugh.

"Hinata-Chan as much as I like kissing you, right now it's a little painful" the blond said rubbing his jaw.

"Oh! I'm sorry I forgot, it's just with me yelling and you getting up and…" She trailed off as Naruto let go of Shikamaru releasing him from his third wheel status and wrapped his arms around Hinata.

"Don't worry bout it Hinata-Chan." The blond said looking down at his girlfriend silently thanking her for her support during the match which Hinata silently understood what he was doing meant.

Asuma smiled looking over at his genin. "2 months. That's all it took me. 2 months and I have these three caring for each other like family. Shikamaru being that big brotherly figure to both Naruto and Hinata looking out for them, and Naruto and Hinata… being those… their dating. They have really changed in those two months. And I could only be prouder if Hinata and Shikamaru help me win this bet against the other Jonin. Guy is already down a player, so if Shikamaru and Hinata win, as long as one person from Kurenai's team loses I'll win this.

The third Hokage chuckled suddenly getting Jiraiya attention.

"Care to share what you find so amusing?" The Sannin asked his former mentor

"You called it. It seems that you have a good eye for potential after all. Everyone thought that would be a boring fight but ended up having a dramatic finish." Jiraiya smirked to himself

"As long as a ninja has guts, he'll go far in this world." Jiraiya replied.

Hayate then got the arena's attention once again with a chorus of coughs. "The next match will be selected no-"

"Just one moment Hayate." Jiraiya interjected. "As future Hokage I'd like to play around with the rules here." This got everyone undivided attention. The naming himself as future Hokage getting the bigger of the notice. "Now the Hokage can make changes to any part in the exam correct?"

"Well ummm yes but-"Hayate replied and then was once again interrupted

"Well then, with your permission Sarutobi sensei I would like to pick the match ups from here on out." The third gave a head nod allowing for this to happen.

"Ok let me get a good look at you all" Jiraiya said as he scanned the room with his peeping telescope eyeing everyone up until two caught his eye.

"Let's go with you pinky" He said referring to Sakura "and we'll have you go up against Mr. Mummy over here." Referring to Dosu.

"Well this should be easy" Dosu said to his teammates smirking underneath his bandages that covered his face.

"Well this will be easy" Sakura said smirking as she made her way down to the arena floor.

**End**

**A/N SORRY THIS ONE TOOK LONGER GUYS BUT HOPE YOU LIKED IT. LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT ME TO KEEP WRITING THE FIGHTS LIKE THIS OR IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE DETAIL PUT INTO EACH FIGHT, OR LESS TIME ON THE FIGHT.**

**PS: RIP KIBA & AKAMARU THE FIRST OF MANY DEATHS TO HAPPEN IN THIS STORY. (WELL I GUESS ZABUZA WAS ACTUALLY FIRST BUT HE DIDN'T EVEN LAST A FULL CHAPTER)**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'M JUST GONNA WARN YOU ALL NOW; THIS CHAPTER HAS A LOT OF STUFF I THINK WILL MAKE MOST OF YOU MAD. MAINLY REGARDING THE BATTLES. I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE IT, BUT I APOLIGIZE FOR SUMMING UP MOST OF THE FIGHTS. THIS WAS TAKING TOO LONG I THOUGHT AND I JUST WANTED TO GET THE PRELIMS OVER WITH. THE FINALS WILL BE IN FULL DETAIL LIKE THE NARUTO TENTEN FIGHT.**

**Chapter 16**

Naruto had just won his match against Tenten but was clearly still in pain. He winced as Hinata did her best to treat his wounds with her ointment that she made in her garden at the Hyuga compound.

"Naruto" Kurenai spoke up "You should really go get those wounds treated" the Jonin advised looking at the blond boy's hand. It was still swollen up and obviously broken. She could only imagine how much pain that last punch must have caused him.

Naruto grinned up to the dark haired Jonin "No way, I want to see the rest of the matches." The blond replied. Kurenai gave the genin a stern look like a mother would give their child saying they weren't really asking as much as telling.

"Aw don't worry bout him Kurenai." Asuma spoke up "Naruto is a tough kid, and even more stubborn." This earned a pouting annoyed face from Naruto which Hinata and Asuma chuckled at. "Anyway, let's watch and see how your student does." With that Kurenai accepted defeat and turned her attention down to the floor to watch her student.

Down on the battle floor Sakura and Dosu faced off starring each other down with small confident grins. Or what looked like a grin under Dosu's bandages.

"If both combatants are ready you may begin." Hayate said as he leapt back from the two.

"Here's some advice for you before we begin." Dosu spoke up "Quit now and you won't have permanent life altering damage done to you" He threatened. Sakura reacted by just smiling.

"Oh really? I could say the same to you." The pink haired genin replied.

"Fine, have it your way pinky" Dosu retorted as he took a battle stance.

Sakura was the first to make a move as she threw three kunai at the bandaged genin. Dosu dodged the incoming kunai by jumping to his left. He then started charging in after his opponent. He slid his sleeve back to expose a device on his forearm with holes in it.

Sakura braced herself for contact and was able to lean back avoiding the punch. Dosu smiled as he had purposely missed the girl so his device would rupture her ear canal. Dosu leapt back and waited for the effect to begin.

Sakura stood there and suddenly began vomiting as she fell to her knees. Dosu grinned seeing his plan had worked to perfection.

"I told you to give up or you wou-"he was cut off as he saw the pink haired girl vomiting large amounts of blood now. "What!? It's never done that before!" Dosu said in a small panic. He continued to watch as the girl started bleeding from her eyes and ears and she screamed uncontrollably in pain.

Back in the spectating area

"What's up with him?" Naruto asked as he looked down at the match. To everyone besides Dosu all they saw was that the two hadn't moved for over a minute since Sakura had thrown her kunai.

"She caught him in a genjutsu." Kurenai answered as the genin turned to her interested, Asuma and Guy kept their eyes glued on the pink haired genin trying to find out just how she got him under a genjutsu that fast without a dojutsu such as the Sharingan.

"Sakura is the most dangerous genin I have seen since Itachi Uchiha" Kurenai said dead serious. This made Guy and Asuma nearly gasp at the high praise.

"You can't be serious" Guy replied in denial

"Don't underestimate her. Sakura's chakra control is that of a Jonin, and she has mastered ever genjutsu I have taught her and has even learned some on her own. She isn't as gifted as Itachi was in reflexes obviously, or speed, and ninjutsu, but at the same time she isn't slouching."

"I think you're getting a little carried away her Kurenai" Asuma spoke up

"Oh really?" Kurenai retorted turning her head towards Asuma "If you recall our mission in the land of waves who was it that snuck up on Haku and stabbed him saving your life? That boy was able to beat both of us and our genin and would have killed you if Sakura hadn't of stepped in when she did." This silenced Asuma as he had to admit that the girl did somehow manage to get through the missing Nin's defenses and catch him off guard.

"Sneaking around is one thing Kurenai, and genjutsu is another, but to be great you must be well rounded." Guy added in

"From what I know of all the genin here, your student Neji is the only one who could hope to defeat my Sakura right now, and that's only because of his Byakugon." Kurenai retorted. Lee and the others turned their attention to the Hyuga prodigy to see his reaction.

Neji just stood there keeping his eyes locked on the battle that was currently in a stand still as Dosu seemed to be fighting thin air while Sakura just stood their concentrating her chakra. Neji was fascinated with the pink haired kunoichi's jutsu. He could make out what it was Dosu was seeing thanks to him having his Byakugon active. It was a horrifying sight to say the least. 'I will have to be careful around her. She is gifted in the genjutsu arts. But what other skills is she hiding?' Neji smirked as a plan came to him.

Meanwhile Sakura was just putting the finishing touches on her genjutsu that would send this poor sound genin to the mental hospital. 'I almost feel sorry for this guy, but he did start this, and I gotta impress Naruto-kun somehow.' She thought to herself proudly. In a couple more minutes this would all be over.

"Hey this is getting to be vary tedious, can you just end this already or show us something?" Neji yelled down to the battle floor. This annoyed Sakura; she didn't like people criticizing her jutsu. This also annoyed Kurenai knowing what the Hyuga was trying to do. Everyone else though was a little surprise to see the mostly quiet loner actually yell something out.

"I mean come on is this all you have to show us. The future fifth Hokage handpicked you for this match and all you have for us is some little freak show?" Neji continued to poke at Sakura hoping to make her reveal more of her skills.

"That's enough Neji" Guy chided his genin sternly

"What? I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking. Uzumaki would have said something by now but he likes the pink haired girl too much to say anything that could be considered rude or mean." Neji replied hoping bringing up the blond haired boy would get the reaction he wanted.

"Will you shut up already?" Sakura yelled "After I'm done with this loser I'll beat you in the finals!" Neji smirked seeing he had finally struck a nerve.

"Then do something already! Naruto and Tenten's fight at least had some action in it. Be it that the majority of the action was Naruto licking his wounds like a beaten mutt." Neji retorted smiling snidely. Naruto and Shikamaru looked as though they were ready to jump the Hyuga then and there when suddenly Sakura broke their concentration.

"JUST SHUT UP!" Sakura yelled as she released her genjutsu. Slowly Dosu started coming back still shaken from all the gore and terrible nightmare he had just been forced to believe was real.

"You want to see something _cool?" _she put emphasis on the last part "Then fine!" She exclaimed as she started forming hand signs.

Kurenai wanted to tell her student to stop but it was too late, seeing that the genjutsu was already released Sakura now forced herself to win a new way and by default reveal more than she had to about herself.

"Water Style: Hidden Mist Secret Jutsu" Sakura said as she began breathing out a haze of mist that covered the arena floor. This gave all of team ten jitters as every time they had seen this jutsu before; their lives were left hanging on a sting.

"But how did she learn that?" Asuma asked in disbelief "She was never even there when that jutsu was performed" This got the interest of the other genin as well wondering just how she learned the jutsu.

"It really isn't that hard to do." Kurenai spoke up getting the others attention. "After our mission Sakura wanted to learn how to do the jutsu, so I asked the Hokage what he knew of it and he lent me a scroll. It is only a genin level jutsu with only one hand sign. Anyone with a water affinity could do it." Kurenai answered

"But there is the drawback of it affecting the user too." Guy interjected

"Yes and this jutsu doesn't work against my Byakugon" Neji added on as only he and Hinata could see what was going on in the mist now. Neji chuckled to himself getting the others attention.

"What's so funny!" Naruto demanded

"It seems that she really is trying to impress you." Neji said closing his eyes and smiling to himself.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked confused

"Just watch, you'll see"

A few moments later the mist started to settle. Everyone focused their eyes trying to see what had happened under the mist. The first part that uncovered were on the sides. On Sakura's side all they could see was a hole where Sakura stood before. The majority looked confused wondering where the pink haired girl went. Choji abruptly started laughing.

"She used that jutsu on him! I still remember the first time she did it on Shino!" Choji exclaimed as he started laughing again. Meanwhile on the other side where the sand and sound team where there was laughing heard from two people. Sounded like one male and one female.

"Will someone tell me what's so funny!" Naruto demanded getting frustrated that he was one of the ones being left out of the loop. Finally the mist completely cleared and there stood Sakura with both hands on her hips as she looked proudly up hoping to see Naruto's reaction.

Next to Sakura's feet was Dosu, with only his head sticking out of the ground. Laughter erupted from the leaf side of the spectating area along with where the Hokage, Jiraiya and other Chunin proctors stood.

"You like that?" Sakura asked grinning to the crowd "That is my Head Hunter Jutsu." Dosu struggled a bit trying to break free to no hope.

"Damn you! Get me the hell out of here!" Dosu demanded Sakura squatted down next to him to look at him eye to eye.

"Now would be a good time for you to forfeit. Unless you want to volunteer for another one of my genjutsus that I've been working on." She then whispered so only Dosu could hear "I got this one where spiders eat their way out of your stomach" these thoroughly sent chills through the sound genin.

"Proctor! I give up! Now get this crazy bitch away from me!" Dosu yelled fearing the threat of another genjutsu

Sakura smiled as she stood up and looked to the crowd of leaf genin. Up in the viewing area everyone's eyes were on her. The majority looking on in amazement and wonder of how she had totally humiliated her opponent without him even making one offensive move. But none of that mattered. The only eyes she cared about were Naruto's. She looked up at the blond and sighed seeing him smiling at her. 'That's the look that I miss. I haven't gotten him to look at me like that since the academy. He ust to always watch me and praise me back then, but I never really appreciated it until _she_ had to come and mess things up' Sakura thought to herself as she started to make her way over to the stairs after Hayate announced her the victor.

Once Sakura reached the top of the stairs she was greeted by her teammates and Rock Lee who were all congratulating her on the victory. She accepted all the compliments but she really only wanted to hear what her crush thought about her match. She made her way over to the blond who still sat on the ground with Hinata sitting next to him holding his hand.

"So what did you think Naruto?" Sakura asked slightly nervous. The blond gave her his classic big smile.

"That was awesome! You gotta show me that thing you did to pull him under ground. I really want to pull that on Sasuke, can you imagine how mad he'll be!" Naruto then laughed picturing the scene.

"Yea! Totally! Whenever you have free time I can show it to you." Sakura replied excited. Hinata saw what Sakura was doing again and she didn't like it, but at the same time she didn't want to slow Naruto down and prevent him from learning new jutsu. She decided to hold her tongue for now.

Kurenai was about to make her way over too but felt someone grab her arm. She turned around to see it was Asuma holding her arm with a serious expression on his face.

"Now I believe you." Asuma said quietly motioning to Sakura "both those jutsu maybe low rank but none the less you somehow taught that girl two different affinities. That is unheard of for a genin."

"I know. It is almost scary how quick of a learner she is. Her chakra control is excellent which helps, but the girl is a sponge when it comes to learning" Kurenai replied in a hushed voice

"She must have a weak spot. I mean you said she isn't as good as Itachi was when he was a genin."

Kurenai chuckled quietly before replying "Your students will have to try and find that out for themselves" She said confidently as she then excused herself to walk over and congratulate her student.

Meanwhile Jiraiya and the Hokage were discussing their opinions of the match they just witnessed.

"So Sarutobi Sensei, do I know how to pick them or what?" Jiraiya asked proudly.

"Yes the girl shows a great deal of promise. Even more so than you or Tsunade showed at this time in your training." Hiruzen answered

"Whoa there sensei, the girl clearly has achieved Chunin skill level but comparing her to me and Tsunade might be pushing it."

"True it might be, but not even Orochimaru had achieved control of two chakra natures at genin. Although he was younger." Hiruzen replied defending his side.

"Whatever you say." Jiraiya replied not pushing the subject "Let's get the next match started. Let's see…" He said scanning the list of remaining participants. "I think it's only fair that we get one of the sand's genin in a match now. Any takers?" He asked as he looked up to the three sand genin.

A blond girl started to raise her hand but was too slow.

"You there, with the war paint." Jiraiya said addressing Konkuro. Konkuro was just happy that the man could appreciate war paint and didn't say he was wearing makeup. "I want you and how's about one of the leaf's more prominent clans. A Hyuga would be perfect for you." Everyone's attention quickly turned to Hinata and Neji wondering which one of them would be selected.

"Ooooh! I have two to pick from! Let's go with Neji, you're both the same age." Jiraiya said explaining his reasoning for the match. Both genin made their way down to the battle floor that was slowly becoming a wreck sight. Sakura had just put two holes in the floor and Tenten had made a small crater earlier.

"You both may begin." Hayate said as he backed away. Konkuro slid off the mysterious item he had on his back and set it down on the ground behind him. Neji in the meantime activated his dojutsu and started studding the boy in all black.

"What is your story?" Neji asked taking Konkuro off guard.

"What are you talking about?" Konkuro retorted

"I just wish to know how serious to take you? I do not know yet if you are destined to be a failure or not." Neji replied calmly. This only irritated Konkuro.

"I don't have to tell you jack" Konkuro replied

"No you don't, but from what I can see so far, you are nothing more than a pathetic excuse for a shinobi." Neji responded coldly getting under Konkuro's skin

"You better watch what you say punk, I'm the first son of the Kazekage an-"Konkuro was cut off

"Oh so you are one of the high and mighty. One of the ones that was born with a silver spoon in their mouth" Neji interrupted

"No! I had to work hard to-"

"To what? To get to be a genin? If that's what you call hard work then you are just confirming everything I just said." Neji retorted interrupting him once again

"Enough I'm going to shut you up myself!" Konkuro yelled as he charged in at the Hyuga who took a defensive stance. Just as Konkuro reached his opponent, Neji dodged under his arm and made a downward slashing motion with his hand behind Konkuro. Konkuro then fell to the ground like a lifeless corpse.

"What! No way!" Naruto exclaimed "I didn't even see him touch the guy!" Neji smirked as he turned towards the object Konkuro set down earlier. Neji then dashed towards it quickly and delivered one hard palm strike to the object. Neji stood up grinning proudly of his work.

"Turns out I was right. He was destined to not meet the expectations of his family and be a disgrace" Neji stated as he turned and look up to Hinata.

Hayate began walking over to the object knowing that the real sand genin was in there. He was beaten though by Temari. The sand kunoichi quickly untied the bandages revealing Konkuro who had trails of blood running down from the corners of his mouth as he coughed up more blood.

"Get a medic out here!" Temari demanded scared for her brother's wellbeing. It was obvious to everyone that he had some kind of internal injury. "It's going to be ok Konkuro, just stay calm." She said to her brother holding him. Gaara in the meanwhile just starred emotionlessly at the Hyuga. 'He claims that Konkuro is the weak one, but he could have killed Konkuro and chose not to. He only proved to me that he is weak, just like the rest of these Leaf genin.' The red haired boy thought to himself unamused.

"This is what happens when weakling enter this exam" Neji stated coldly as the medics finally arrived. This earned him a hateful glare from Temari.

"Oh really, then I can't wait until I see you in the Finals." Temari retorted. Neji snorted hearing the challenge.

"You aren't worth my time. The only person I'm interested in facing in the finals is the Haruno" Neji replied, this further angered Temari, along with the rest of the eligible genin. Sakura did her best to keep a neutral face at the challenge. Temari gritted her teeth wanting to say something back to the arrogant jerk but was stopped by Jiraiya's booming voice.

"Ok let's not take all day here onto the next match." He said loudly to the arena "Next will be…" He took a second to look around. He noticed a green clad genin who strongly resembled his sensei jumping up and down with his hand in the air.

"Ok next match will be Rock Lee vs Shino Aburame"

"Alright Lee!" Guy cheered excited for his student to finally get to compete which was matched with Lee's overwhelming joy. "Now Lee listen closely to the advice that I am about to tell you."

"What is it Guy sensei!?" Lee replied eagerly. Guy then leaned in close to Lee and spoke in a quieter voice.

"There is something weird under that coat of his" Guy said to Lee in almost a frightened tone.

"Good advice sensei." Lee answered quickly

"Hey don't write that down! You won't have time to read it during your match." Guy chided his student

"Another good tip! Just let me write that down quick sensei!" Guy face palmed at this as did Neji. "Don't you worry Guy sensei; I will make you proud and advance to the next round like Neji." Lee said confidently with a small grin.

"I know you will succeed Lee!" Guy said giving his thumbs up. Neji couldn't help but smirk at this. It wasn't a smirk to mock the excited green clad genin though. He secretly wanted Lee to pass, he wished Tenten had too. As rude and blunt as he was Neji did still care for his teammates, he just didn't show it. He believed it was the way an honorable Hyuga should represent themselves.

Both Lee and Shino made their way down to the battle floor. Once there Hayate once more signaled for the two to begin. Unlike the other matches that took place prior to this one there was no trash talk. Shino wasn't the talking type and Lee saw no good in belittling the leaf genin or any foe for that matter.

Lee was the first the move, lunging towards the Aburame with blinding speed. Shino was barely able to block a hard forearm from Lee. Lee continued to stay on the offensive for a while not letting the bug user make any moves. Shino did his best to block all the incoming attacks but just wasn't as fast as Lee and took a couple hard blows. After a bit Lee eventually stopped his assault to give Shino a chance to make a move seeing that he wasn't getting any finishing blows off.

While both genin caught their breath they noticed the small cheering going one in the stands. Sakura and Guy were the only ones cheering; both in a small battle of their own to see who could cheer the best. As the fight went on Asuma and Kurenai noticed a change in expression on the Hyuga boy's face. He deactivated his Byakugon and smirked amusingly to himself.

"Something funny kid?" Asuma asked gaining the leaf genin's interest around him.

"It's foolish for this boy to continue with this hopeless battle." Neji replied still smirking.

"Now Neji," Guy chided "You should support your comrade, Lee has made much progress since last year."

"I wasn't talking about Lee. He is more than capable of taking care of himself."

"Now what's that supposed to mean?" Sakura asked annoyed

"Your teammate has no chance against Lee; he was destined to lose ever since he was selected to face Lee." Neji replied coldly. The expressions on all of Team eight turned too annoyed now, seeing the Hyuga now start to take jabs at their team.

"I noticed you deactivated you Byakugon again" Asuma spoke up "Just as you did with Naruto and Tenten's match"

"I saw no need in studding weak opponents that won't advance to the finals." Neji replied flatly once again "I made the mistake to let my guard down with the blond loser, like my teammate who foolishly showed mercy. We all know that if Tenten wished she could have beaten his head in a number of times, but Tenten must have felt pity facing such a weakling and insisted on not using lethal force."

Hinata could feel Naruto's grip on her hand tighten and saw his jaw clench in frustration from the Hyuga's words as he hid his eyes from view looking down. Hinata and everyone thought back to the match and just how many times the weapons expert stopped attacking the blond and allowed him to get back up.

"I can see from all of your reactions that you know what I am saying is true." Neji started up again "The only reason he got through was because he was shown mercy. And the only way Lee will lose this match is if he foolishly does the same"

Hinata wanted to say something but she couldn't think of a good argument at the moment. Much of what Neji said was true but she refused for even a second to believe that he was weak. She looked around to see if anyone else would come to the Aburame, or the blond's defense but all anyone had were annoyed looks. Shikamaru especially who had his eyes glued on Neji, staring daggers at him while clenching his fist.

Back on the arena floor Shino had finally started to go on the offensive summoning his bugs to attack the taijutsu specialist but to no avail. Lee was too fast for waves to land on him. After a bit Lee and Shino stopped once more. The silence was surprisingly broken by Shino.

"Why aren't you slowing down?" The Aburame asked while panting "My comrades should have sucked up most of your chakra by now." Lee grinned at his tired foe

"The answer is simple" Lee replied "The reason I am a taijutsu specialist is because my chakra coils are small for a ninja, this results in me having no use of genjutsu or ninjutsu, and your bugs cannot find my small chakra coils. They are useless against me." The statement caught most off guard. It was then everyone realized what Neji was talking about. If Shino was going to win he was going to have to find a different way other than his insects.

Shino calmly analyzed the situation he was now in. He racked his mind with different strategies of just what he could do.

Shino then stood straiter and raised his hand.

"Proctor I forfeit" Shino announced. The majority of the Genin gasped at the sudden surrender of the Aburame while Neji's grin grew. "Without my comrades to assist me in this battle, I have no way of defeating you, I forfeit my match"

"What the Hell Shino!" Sakura yelled from the stands "You don't just quit! You're not even in that bad of shape! You-"She was stopped when her sensei put a hand on her shoulder and shaked her head telling the pink haired genin to cease. With that Hayate announce Lee as the winner. Lee walked over to the defeated Aburame and thanked him for a 'splendid match' as the two made their excite from the floor and back to their teams.

The remainder of the matches continued on after that. Hinata and Kin were the next to battle with Naruto seemingly finally coming out of his quiet state to cheer on his girlfriend who managed to defeat her opponent. It was a little tricky at first with the bell genjutsu but she eventually managed to overcome it and make quick work of her opponent deactivating her use of use of her limbs. Naruto was jumping for joy congratulating Hinata while Neji and Sakura looked on annoyed.

Next were Choji and Shikamaru. It wasn't much of a match, it took forever for Asuma and Kurenai to convince their genin to fight but Choji just didn't have it in him to go full out against his best friend. Shikamaru saw this and tried to forfeit the match but was stopped by the Akimichi who insisted Shikamaru go on, saying that Shikamaru was always the stronger of the two and would fare better in the finals. This nearly made Sakura pull her hair out frustrated beyond belief that both her teammates just gave up. 'Naruto-Kun would never give up' She thought frustrated to herself.

The final one was nearly the opposite of the last, it was between Gaara of the Sand and Zaku from the Sound. This match made everyone sick to their stomach. Gaara allowed the sound genin to attack for a while but when he became bored quickly buried Zaku in sand and proceeded to crush him infront of everyone. The sound's Jonin sensei was not in attendance to stop the match; Hayate tried to intervene but was too slow as the sand killed the genin in front of everyone. Not even Neji made a comment about destiny as he too was too shocked and disgusted with what he just witnessed.

With only one participant left Temari advanced to the final round with a bye.

Jiraiya and the Hokage then stood in front of the finalist and their Jonin sensei dismissing the rest.

"Okay now each of you will step forward and pick-"The third Hokage started but was cut off by Jiraiya

"Hey, I thought I was making the matches Sarutobi sensei" Hiruzen grumbled to himself a bit

"Fine have it your way" Hiruzen replied

"Okay then let's see what we have here." Jiraiya said looking over the eight finalists "Okay I'm going to let you all know now that I am making these selections based on what I think will be for the most entertaining first round, it is up to you to do your best, represent your villages and put on a good show for potential clients."

"The first match will be a family feud match." Jiraiya announce as everyone turned their attention the Neji and Hinata. Hinata looking worriedly while Neji seemed excited.

"The first match will be Gaara vs Temari, the older beautiful sister vs her younger ultimate defense brother." Gasps spread around the room as the attention turned towards the two sand shinobi. Gaara's expressionless face was the exact opposite of Temari's as she looked like someone had just put a gun to her head.

"I am making this match mainly because none of us got to see your skills Temari and with Gaara being your brother he probably has the best chance against you." Jiraiya said explaining his reasoning. Temari just gulped as her mouth hung open her face still covered in fear along with her sensei's.

"The next match will be a battle of the other two women, Sakura Haruno vs Hinata Hyuga, my uhh reasoning for this is uhhhh… your both kunoichi…" he finished meekly. Jiraiya had a real reason for this match but wasn't comfortable saying it. He had noticed that the Hyuga girl seemed rather close with his godson Naruto and had also noticed that the pink haired genin seemed to be attracted to him as well. He was never there for Naruto growing up but got the idea in his head that Naruto would enjoy seeing two women fight over him, literally.

Sakura smirked to herself excitingly about her upcoming match. 'Now I can finally show Naruto what I'm made of. And I can teach this clinger a lesson in being a kunoichi.' Sakura thought to herself.

"The third match will be Neji Hyuga vs Shikamaru Nara" both Neji and Shikamaru smirked at this. "I saw you two eyeing each other up earlier and I bet you both couldn't ask for anyone else to fight." Jiraiya explained

"You got that right" Shikamaru commented. Neji only replied with a grunt still smirking, anticipating his chance to get back at the Nara who sucker punched him a couple weeks ago.

"And that leaves Rock Lee vs Naruto Uzumaki, this one is well because you are the only two left" Jiraiya finished sheepishly laughing getting a death glare from his god son.

The Hokage then went on to explain to all of them that they should take the time to train and better themselves and to meet at the village arena in a months' time. The genin and their Jonin sensei's all made their leave after this.

Asuma walked out with his genin, his mind racing 'I can't train all three of them! I mean it's cool that I won the bet but I'm going to have to get someone else to train two of them. Man this is gonna be tough.'

Meanwhile

"It seems you went a little overboard dealing with Sasuke" Kabuto said to his leader

"No." Orochimaru replied with a grin "on the contrary really. I planned on killing that blond girl as well but my teammate just had to get in my way."

"Why would you do that? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to you to have Sasuke compete in the finals to see his true potential?" Kabuto replied curiously

"I saw all I needed. Sasuke will be my next vessel, I want to destroy all reason for him to stay in this pitiful village, and that means breaking all his bonds."

"And you want to do this because you failed to put your curse mark on him"

"Kabuto, always so observant. That is why I keep you around." The snake Sannin said with a devilish grin. "Any news from our other sound genin in the exams?"

"From what info I gathered your three all were eliminated during the prelims" Kabuto replied

"And what of the three we had disguised as grass Nin?"

"They were attacked by a bear during the second stage; it is presumed they have all died as well"

"That is a shame; I had such high hopes for that Uzumaki. Karin was her name wasn't it."

"Yes, she would have proven very useful to us."

"Oh well. I must leave now, I have more important matters to attend to" Orochimaru said as he started to make his way to leave.

"And what would that be?" Kabuto asked. The Sannin smirked back.

"I have to inform the Kazekage of the new plans" He said as he made his leave

**END**

**WELL HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED AND ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE FINALS. NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE ON EVERYONE'S TRAINING. THE MAJORITY WILL PROBABLY FOCUS ON HINATA AND HER TRAINER (ANYONE WHO GUESSES CORRECT ON HER TRAINER GETS EITHER A S/O OR CAN ASK ONE QUESTION ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE STORY THAT I WILL PERSONALY ANSWER) **

**ON A SIDE NOTE TO EXPLAIN THE MATCHES. I FELT THAT SAKURA, AND NARUTO REALLY GOT SCREWED OVER HAVING KAKASHI AS THEIR SENSEI, HE TOUGHT THEM HOW TO CLIMB TREES AND HELPED NARUTO MAKE A NEW JUTSU. THAT IS LITERALLY ALL HE DID FOR THEM WHILE HE FOCUSED ON SASUKE. I HAD HIM DO THAT AGAIN WITH KIBA AND INO IN THIS STORY, THIS RESULTED IN KIBA DIEING IN THE FOREST TO OROCHIMARU NOT HAVING THE NINE TAIL'S POWER TO HELP HIM. SO WITH NARUTO AND SAKURA I MADE THEM STRONGER HAVING SENSEI'S THAT ACTUALLY HELPED THEM IMPROVE THEIR SKILLS. SAKURA I ADMIT IS STRONGER THAN SHE PROBABLY WOULD BE IF SHE HAD BEEN ASSIGNED TO KURENAI'S TEAM BUT I NEED SOMEONE TO BE A POWERHOUSE FOR THE GOOD GUYS IN THE FINALS SINCE SASUKE DIDN'T MAKE IT TO THE THIRD ROUND. RIGHT NOW THINK OF SAKURA AS AROUND NEJI'S POWER.**

**PS: SOME OF YOU WILL HATE WHAT HINATA LEARNS, OTHERS WILL LOVE IT. And yea Kazekage is still alive! DUN DUN DUN!**


	17. Chapter 17

**SO NO ONE WAS ABLE TO GUESS HINATA'S TRAINER. EVERYONE GUESSED MAINLY ANKO, AND A FEW TSUNADE BUT NO ONE THOUGHT ABOUT A CERTAIN MALE JONIN FROM THE LEAF WHO HAS NO GENIN IN THE FINALS. THIS CHAPTER WAS ORIGINALLY JUST GOING TO BE A FILLER AND DO THE GROUND WORK FOR THE FINALS BUT AN IDEA CAME TO ME TO MAKE THIS ONE AND THE NEXT A HELL OF A LOT MORE INTERESTING! HOPE YOU ENJOY. (PS: SORRY BOUT THE RANDOM BORDERS COULDN'T DELETE THEM)**

**Chapter 17**

3 weeks after the preliminaries

7 pm Training ground in the Leaf

A huge wave of chakra blast Sasuke Uchiha off his feet. The young Uchiha staggering to get back to his feet. His cloths were ripped up and he himself was covered in small scratches and bruises from the wave that just hit him. For one of the few times in his life Sasuke dropped his mask and was shivering in fear and confusion from what he was seeing.

"Sasuke get back!" Jiraiya snapped at the dark haired teen bringing him out of his daze. "Let me handle this! You just get out of here." Jiraiya demanded seriously as he prepared himself for battle. Jiraiya then bit his thumb until blood began to drip.

"Wait what are you-"

"Summoning Jutsu!"

3 pm training ground 10 (Earlier that day)

"Your still slacking" Chided Asuma "Your timing is off with your shadows, how do you expect to catch your opponent come the finals" Shikamaru panted desperately trying to suck in as much air as he could. It was midafternoon and the two had started a new training style two weeks ago. This would last from dawn until dust, leaving the Nara exhausted.

"You're a Jonin Asuma, I'm ust to catching some deer or Naruto" Shikamaru defended himself still gasping for air with sweet dripping from his face.

"Well you're gonna have to fix that. We both know Naruto and Hinata have been working their butts off the last few weeks." Asuma replied strictly "And you're a week behind both of them and Neji as is." Shikamaru's eyes narrowed sharply at this which his sensei took notice of.

"Don't worry, I can handle myself" Shikamaru retorted.

"Oh really? Because from what I heard from Guy, you and Naruto both lost to Lee and Tenten without even scratching them, and Naruto barely survived his match with the girl." Shikamaru's frustration continued to grow.

"Can we just get back to training already?" Shikamaru said frustrated

"Not until you get your head on straight." Asuma retorted "You have been dazing in and out for the past two weeks" There was an awkward moment of silence between the two, Shikamaru looked down at the ground not wanting to look his sensei in the eye while Asuma looked seriously at his student. After a few more silent moments Asuma walked over to the Nara boy and place a comforting hand on his shoulder. Shikamaru refused to look up still hiding his emotions.

"I know its hard Shikamaru" Asuma said in a softer tone "But Kiba wouldn't want you to hang on his death, you can't let it consume your whole life." The mention of Shikamaru's friend was the last straw, Shikamaru couldn't hold back the tears forming behind his eyes any longer as they started to stream down his face.

"You're not the only one who lost someone that day. Sasuke and Ino lost their teammate, and I know Sasuke sill wishes he could become a Chunin this year for Kiba, that's why he's been training so hard with Naruto. It's up to you to make Kiba proud, give it your all and win your match." Shikamaru sniffled a bit and took a while to get his emotions under control. The two ended their training session there and went home to think things over and get back at it the next day.

4 pm in an inn room in the Leaf

Temari sat starring out a window with a concerned look plastered on her face. She was deep in thought right now about the upcoming Chunin Exam Finals and the sand's hidden mission. She was brought out of her train of thought with a knock at her door.

"Enter" She spoke up. The door opened slowly as Temari's gaze turned to the person entering. Her facial expression changed to annoyed once she saw who it was.

"What do you want?" She asked stubbornly

"I came to discuss your upcoming match with your brother, and the plan afterword's" a man's voice replied. Temari snorted showing her annoyment further.

"What does it matter to you? And any word on Konkuro?" She retorted bitterly

"Now Temari" The man's voice chided "You will address me with more respect than that. Understood?" Temari reluctantly nodded "Good, Konkuro is doing better, I have had him sent back to the Sand Village where he will be safe during the attack, but back to you and Gaara-"

"I know, I'll surrender immediately so as to safe my chakra and prevent any unnecessary losses to the sand" Temari interrupted

"That's not exactly what I had in mind…" Temari's eyebrows raised at this "I mean it wouldn't look good on me for my eldest daughter to be eliminated so quickly"

6 pm at the memorial stone

A purple haired woman knelt down brushing her hand over a name that was recently engraved into the stone. The woman's name was Yugao Uzuki, she was currently a member of the Anbu. Yugao continued to look down at the stone mournfully tracing the name of her recently deceased lover Hayate. He had been murdered shortly after the preliminaries to the Chunin Exams, there was not enough evidence at the body to reveal just who or why someone killed him.

"I will avenge you Hayate…" Yugao whispered to herself and spiritually to Hayate. She was taken out of her moment when she sensed a familiar chakra behind her.

"Are you here for Obito?" She asked still tracing Hayate's name.

"Kinda…" Kakashi replied softly

"Can you answer something for me Kakashi?"

"Sure I can try my best" Kakashi replied

"Does it ever get easier?" Yugao asked slightly regretting asking such a sensitive topic, especially to Kakashi, her former superior in Anbu. Kakashi took a moment to let the question sink in before he gave his answer.

"Not even a little." Kakashi replied honestly "The only thing that ever changes is how we deal with it." Yugao for the first time stopped touching the stone and turned around to face the grey haired Jonin.

"What is it that has changed for you?" She asked curious

"When my father died, I killed off all my emotions. I decided that it was better to not feel anything than it was to feel pain. I was like that for many years letting it consume me and dictate the way I lived, isolated. That changed a while after I became a Jonin, when I finally had people that I cared about again. They made me a person again."

"When Obito died, I blamed myself. I still do… I was depressed after his death for months, I would have still been if Rin and Minato sensei where not there for me. They were the difference, they didn't let me feel sorry for myself and helped me get out more again." Kakashi went on as Yugao politely listened.

"Then Rin died…" there was a long moment of silence as Kakashi remembered back to that day "After that, I gave up on feelings again and joined Anbu, I didn't want to be a person anymore after that. My two best friends both died in front of me. Minato tried to bring me out of this depression best he could, while being around Kushina did have its entertaining moments it still didn't do it quiet for me. Shortly after that Minato passed away when the fox attacked the village. That is when I even wanted to die." Yugao's face changed to fear, she feared that this might happen to her if she lost someone else as close to her as Hayate.

"After many years of self-pity I finally overcame the death of everyone close to me thanks to Guy." Kakashi stated, this surprised Yugao, wondering how Guy of all people was responsible for the Kakashi they had today but she remained silent closely listening to every word.

"He started up this challenge thing with me that we ust to do when we were teens. I was reluctant but you know how he is." Kakashi smiled under his mask a bit. Kakashi's smile soon faded as he walked up next to Yugao and knelt down to touch a name imprinted on the memorial stone. Yugao saw in was a newer name.

"And now here I am with Kiba…" Kakashi said softly, showing now emotion on his face but his actions said it all to Yugao.

"Another friend of yours?" She asked softly

"A student… He and his teammates are the only genin team I have ever passed…" Kakashi replied hiding all his emotions. There was another moment of silence between the two.

"Those three would always drive me crazy. They never stopped arguing and fighting until it got serious. But I would give anything to hear them argue one more time." Kakashi answered honestly.

"What's the difference between what you do now compared to before?" Yugao asked

"Now, I have Guy" Kakashi replied looking up at Yugao with what seemed like a smile underneath his mask "Guy doesn't let me 'waste any of my youth' on being sad and feeling sorry for myself. He even found me something to keep me busy all month."

"And what would that be?" Yugao asked curiously

"I you have the time, you can come meet her." Kakashi said as he stood up and started to walk away. After walking a few yards he turned back to Yugao

"Well?" He asked as he motioned for her to follow him. Yugao thought about it for a moment. She didn't feel like being social right now, but she didn't have anything better to do that grieve alone, and after listening to what Kakashi said about his time being depressed she figured it would be for the better. She then walked next to Kakashi as the two started off to their next destination.

5 pm on a rooftop in the leaf

Gaara sat on the roof of the hotel that he and his sand team was staying in. He looked over the village with cold blood lust eyes.

6 pm Training Ground 8

Sakura and Kurenai where just finishing up a sparring session. The two walked over to some stumps that where on the edge of the training ground to be used as seats. Both Kunoichi sat down and took drinks from their canteens. But there was something bothering the Jonin sensei, her student had barely even managed to make the Jonin sweet today, sure she was still stronger that the younger girl but most days the genin would even push Kurenai to have to use some of her more advanced jutsu to defeat her.

"Sakura." Kurenai spoke up getting the pink haired girls attention.

"Yes Kurenai sensei." Sakura replied

"You seem a bit off recently. Is there something on your mind?" The Jonin asked curious. Sakura looked down disappointed in herself for letting her sensei down.

"It's nothing sensei, I'm fine." Sakura replied "Can we try another sparring session?"

"I'm sorry but I don't have time to do another spar with you tonight." Kurenai replied

"Why not?" Sakura retorted. A blush came to Kurenai's face

"I uhhhh have Kurenai stuff to do…" She replied sheepishly. A tic mark formed on Sakura's head at the dumb excuse.

"Kurenai stuff? What the hell is that?" Sakura retorted annoyed

"It's private! And this will give you some rest for tomorrow anyways. I want you to get your head right and then we can see if we can get you to perfect that jutsu." Sakura sighed in defeat.

"Fine, just go on your date with Asuma already." Sakura moaned as she turned to walk away. This left Kurenai baffled with her mouth hung open at how her student had caught on to her plans. Kurenai would have retorted but chose not to seeing as the girl already seemed to be in a bad mood and didn't want it to get any worse.

Sakura then walked around the Leaf village for a while just trying to clear her mind. She had been getting annoyed at how her crush was currently in a relationship with another girl, the girl that she had to face in the Final exam.

Sakura stopped her wondering when she reached the playground she played at as a young child. She smiled back remembering this being the place she first met Naruto, he had come up to her and handed her a flower with a toothy grin. She was shy back then and blushed and was about to accept it until her parents arrived. They pulled her away immediately and chided her for being around the blond boy. She never understood exactly why she and the other kids were told to stay away from him but she just accepted it.

"I wish I hadn't been so easily influenced back then…" Sakura moaned. She then picked a flower near the swing set that was the same type as the one Naruto had offered her so many years ago. She then was about to sit down on the swing when a huge wave of chakra hit her and knocked her down. She quickly got back up and saw dark clouds looming over an area just outside the village.

"That's where Naruto-Kun is at!" She exclaimed she then quickly started to run over to the area.

7 pm in the forest of the Hidden Leaf

Neji stood there alone barely able to stand. Uneven craters surrounding him with weapons sprawled out around him. They Hyuga could barely stand anymore but willed himself to train harder. He then walked over to the traps he had set up around him. He had to use automated traps to fire shurikan and kunai at him for this training. As he reset the trap he thought how much easier his training would be if he had his teammate Tenten with him. But she decided to split her time to help both Lee and Neji train so as not to show favoritism and make the other feel less appreciated.

Once Neji had finished resetting the traps he stood in the small clearing again waiting for the timer to go off. The bell rang to alert Neji of the activation of the traps, he began spinning sending chakra out of himself. Just before the weapons hit Neji's protective sphere of chakra a huge force hit him and knocked him off his balance. Neji and the sharp ninja weapons were all blown back from the large blast of pure force.

Neji was laid out on the ground fading in and out of consciousness. Partially because of the blast he was just hit with out of nowhere but mainly due to chakra exhaustion. 'What was that?' He thought just before he lost consciousness. Neji was then left there until the following morning when he finally awoke and limped back to the Hyuga compound.

7 pm Training ground 12

Guy was watching over a spar between two of his genin. Lee had been sparring with both Tenten and Guy for hours now, the matches only ending when Tenten got tired or when Guy felt that Tenten had recovered and was ready to spar with Lee again. During the practices with Tenten she mainly would use long range attacks to prepare Lee for whatever Naruto his upcoming opponent had prepared for him.

Lee was confident in himself though. He thought Tenten should have won her fight with the blond in the preliminaries but at the same time would not let himself underestimate an opponent. And if Lee ever did, Guy was right there to set his genin strait, one of the training techniques Guy even used was punching Lee in the face thinking that this would toughen him up so the Uzumaki wouldn't be able to pull one of those one hit knock outs again. This training didn't go as well as you would imagine as Lee usually just ended up unconscious from Guy's devastating blows.

"Alright Lee are you ready?" Tenten asked confidently as she jumped back and held out two scrolls "Because I'm going to give you everything I got" She said with a smirk. Lee replied with a head nod. Tenten then jumped high into the air with both of her scrolls unraveling and spinning around her.

"Twin Drag- Ugh!" Tenten was interrupted as a massive wave of force hit her and knocked her down to the earth. Lee too was knocked down but quickly got back up and rushed over to his sensei who had managed to stand his ground though the blast and was now starring seriously off in the direction of the huge force of chakra.

"Guy sensei what was that?" Tenten asked as she meekly forced herself up.

"Yes Guy sensei what could have caused such a powerful wave to hit us?" Lee asked. Guy gritted his teeth.

"Lee make sure Tenten gets home safely." Guy replied never taking his eyes off of the area.

"But Guy s-"Lee tried to protest but was interrupted

"You two are to go straight home! That is a direct order!" Guy snapped at his genin making them both quiet and watch as their sensei took off in the direction of the chakra.

'This is bad. I haven't felt this in nearly 13 years.' Guy thought gravely as he quickly made his was over to the outburst of chakra.

7 pm Mountain range behind the Hokage Monument

Kakashi and Yugao walked together mostly silently. Yugao wondering why Kakashi would train someone up here when the village had so many very capable training grounds. As they rounded a large rock Yugao noticed many large craters in the surrounding rocks that made up the landscape.

"Well I'm glad to see you haven't been slacking off." Kakashi spoke up. This grabbed Yugao's attention as she then noticed the black haired Hyuga girl who looked to be completely exhausted and possible lacking in chakra from the intense training she seemed to have been put though.

Hinata couldn't help but smile back due to her kind nature but she was panting and covered in sweat as she meekly smiled back to Kakashi and Yugao.

"So how many can you perform per day now?" Kakashi asked as he looked at Hinata.

"I can only do one successfully so far" Hinata replied while still gasping for breath. From what Yugao could tell the girl must have used up her chakra earlier in the day and had been just doing some intense cardio, speed and strength training recently.

"That's not good enough." Kakashi retorted "We need for your chakra supply to increase, otherwise what happens if you miss. Its game over" Hinata dropped her eyes at this and looked to the ground admitting that Kakashi was right and that her chakra supply was too low for her to last long in a ninjutsu battle.

Yugao noticed how saddened the dark haired girl seemed to be from these words and elbowed the grey haired Jonin telling him he went a little too far.

"Oww" Kakashi said aloud then he quickly tried to change the subject "Oh Hinata, I would like for you to meet Yugao, She is a Kunoichi here in the leaf"

"Hello Yugao, I am Hinata Hyuga, it is very nice to meet you" Hinata politely greeted. Yugao smiled at the younger kunoichi and then introduced herself.

"Hi Hinata, I am Yugao Uzuki. It seems that you have been training very hard, any particular reason?"

"Mmhm, I am in the Chunin Final Exams next week."

"I see. But where is the rest of your team?"

"Her other teammates both passed and are in the final round as well" Kakashi interrupted "Shikamaru Nara is with their sensei Asuma"

"Wait you're not her sensei?" Yugao interjected

"No, as I was telling you earlier it help pass the time." Kakashi replied

"Yes and Naruto-kun is training with Sasuke and master Jiraiya" Hinata added in.

"Sasuke? The Uchiha?" Yugao questioned

"Yes Sasuke is my student but he wanted to train with Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki. The two seem to be close with one another." Kakashi answered. Yugao wondered about the strange pairing for a moment but figured it made sense given that both had been orphaned.

"But he isn't the only one that seems to be close to Naruto now does he…" Kakashi stated as he eyed up a certain dark haired girl. A blush soon came to Hinata's face as she thought about her boyfriend who she had hardly seen in recent weeks. She was lucky if she got to see him twice a week with how time consuming their training was. Yugao smiled at seeing the girl blush so innocently from just a small teasing.

"Well shouldn't ones girlfriend be close with them Kakashi sensei." Hinata defended herself

"I will admit that your stealth techniques are quite adept must be fro-"Kakashi was suddenly interrupted by a massive force of chakra that knocked Hinata down. Yugao and Kakashi managed to keep themselves upright thanks to using chakra to hold themselves in place.

"Wha, what was that?" Yugao asked with some fright present in her voice. Kakashi meanwhile quickly raised his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan and focused in fiercely at the area of the chakra outburst.

"Nothing good." Kakashi replied gravely. "We better go, Hinata you go home, I'll go check up on this" With that Kakashi and Yugao quickly dashed towards the source of the chakra leaving Hinata behind. Hinata looked worriedly over at the area just outside of the main village.

"That's where Naruto-Kun is training!" She said fearful that something wrong might have happened or was happening. Without thinking she hurried over to the chakra outburst.

6:45 PM Training ground in the Leaf

Sasuke and Naruto were sparring once again as Jiraiya closely watch over the two. He had taught the both of them how to walk on water and was starting training Naruto in his father's jutsu. He allowed the Uchiha to join in on the training feeling sorry for the boy after everything he had gone through in recent years. Jiraiya had even decided to let both of them sign the contract with the Toads not wanting to let Sasuke feel left out. He needed a pick me up given what happened to his teammate recently.

Training with Naruto had helped Sasuke allot. He dealt with Kiba's death much better than he had with his family but that could be expected. He was a little desensitized to death at this point but it still hurt.

Back to the spar right now Sasuke had the upper hand. He just finished using a fire jutsu that Jiraiya had taught him that put Naruto in a vulnerable position. Sasuke capitalized on it and swiftly kicked the blond back to the ground and quickly pinned him down. Sasuke grinned down at his friend seeing he was the victor in this spar.

"Looks like I got you again" Sasuke said with a smirk. Naruto retorted with grumblings frustrated. As Jiraiya looked over this he was a bit frustrated too. He knew that Naruto had the power in him to beat the Uchiha but he just hadn't found a way to tap into it. He then started thinking of a way to unleash it. 'The seal that Minato used is an old Uzumaki seal. One that weakens over time and with extreme emotion. Maybe the way to tap into that power is to make the brat mad.' The Sannin thought to himself.

Both Sasuke and Naruto then got up and began walking to their instructor.

"What's next pervy sage?" Naruto asked nonchalantly as he dusted himself off. Jiraiya eyed Naruto seriously for a moment deciding he was going to have to pull some low blows if he was going to get this energy out.

"Wow that was just pathetic" Jiraiya replied. Both Naruto and Sasuke just blinked at this confused by the sudden disapproval.

"I mean it is a real shame that you made it into the finals and poor Sasuke here has to stay a genin when he is clearly more deserving than you."

"Hey what the big deal here! I lost one spar and you're jumping all over me!" Naruto retorted

"The deal is that compared to Sasuke you're life has been a walk in the park! From what I've seen so far you're nothing but a failure"

"Shut Up! What do you know!"

"I know what it takes to become Hokage apparently" Naruto gritted his teeth and tightened his fist anger slowly getting to him.

"Well one day-!"

"What you'll become Hokage? Trust me as long as I'm here you will never be Hokage" Those last words crossed the line for the blond as some red chakra started to form around him. His whisker marks became more feral and his canines started to protrude.

"You don't know anything old man" Naruto said seriously Jiraiya mentally smiled realizing he was finally tapping into the power.

"Well then why don't you prove it? Fight Sasuke again. And if you lose, I want you to admit that you're a failure and give up on being Hokage."

Sasuke was about to protest as it was getting late but jumped back as Naruto came lunging at him with a fist.

"Whoa take it easy Naruto" Sasuke said trying to calm down his friend but it fell on deft ears as Naruto was too consumed with rage and continued after him. Sasuke barely managed to keep up and avoid devastating blows from the blond.

"You can't seriously be that bad. I mean look, Sasuke doesn't have a scratch on him!" Jiraiya continued to cheer from the sideline. Sasuke was mentally angry at the Sannin for adding to Naruto's anger and directing it at Sasuke.

The two continued to spar this time Naruto having a clear advantage. Sasuke and Jiraiya also noticed that Naruto's eyes had turned red and had black slits instead of round pupils. Landing his blows now with blinding speed. The only reason Sasuke stood any chance was thanks to his Sharingan. Naruto then landed a devastating punch to the Uchiha's mid-section which sent Sasuke flying back. As he staggered to his feet he heard Jiraiya egg on the blond even more.

"I don't get it. I mean what that Hyuga girl sees in you. She must have a soft spot for failures." Jiraiya added in hoping it was enough to finally push Naruto over the edge. Slowly a tail of red chakra began to form on Naruto. Jiraiya hadn't noticed this yet though and continued his verbal assault on the blond.

"Oh well, it's not like she's a looker anyway. I mean she is just a shy little cowardly loser herself. And a disgrace to her clan."

"She would be better off DEAD."

…

There was an uncomfortable amount of silence and tension in the air. Sasuke couldn't believe that the future Hokage would stoop so low. He stared at the Sannin for a moment then looked to his blond friend who was standing a few yards away from him hanging his head.

"Hey dick! Take that back!" Sasuke yelled breaking the silence "Hinata and Naruto aren't-"Sasuke was cut off as the area erupted around them in bloodlust and chakra sending Jiraiya and Sasuke flying back.

The young Uchiha staggering to get back to his feet. His cloths were ripped up and he himself was covered in small scratches and bruises from the wave that just hit him. For one of the few times in his life Sasuke dropped his mask and was shivering in fear and confusion from what he was seeing.

Standing in front of him was a red and black fox like creature where Naruto once stood. It had four tails and no soul in its eyes. It radiated hatred and bloodlust.

"Sasuke get back!" Jiraiya snapped at the dark haired teen bringing him out of his daze. "Let me handle this! You just get out of here." Jiraiya demanded seriously as he prepared himself for battle. Jiraiya then bit his thumb until blood began to drip.

"Wait what are you-"

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Suddenly a massive pink frog was standing in front of the Uchiha with Jiraiya atop it.

"I'm sorry for summoning you but I think I went too far trying to tap into the boy's power."

"Then I am the perfect summoning for this ungraceful task. For I am ungraceful" the giant toad replied as it readied itself for battle.

**END**

**AN: OH OOO. JIRIAYA DONE FUCKED UP NOW. HOPE I MADE THIS CHAPTER AS BELIEVABLE AS POSSIBLE FOR YOU GUYS, THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THE FIGHT, AND IN THE CANON JIRAIYA SAID THIS WAS THE CLOSEST HE EVER CAME TO DEATH BEFORE THE PAIN FIGHT SO EXPECT SOME EPICNESS FROM THIS. THIS WAS A SPUR OF THE MOMENT ADDITION I MADE TO THE STORY SO I AM STILL TAKING SUGGESTIONS AND WHO KNOWS MAYBE SOMEONE WILL DIE FROM THE FIGHT. RIGHT NOW KAKASHI, YUGAO, GUY, HINATA, AND SAKURA ARE ALL ON THEIR WAY TO THE BATTLE FIELD BUT WHO ELSE'S CURIOUSITY IS GONNA GET THE BEST OF THEM. AND NO NEJI CAN'T DIE YET, EVEN THOUGH MANY OF YOU WISH SO. I GOT SOME PLANS FOR HIM FOR THE REST OF PART ONE AND PART 2.**


End file.
